2010
SOA with .NET and Windows Azure Book Review
This book is a must have for anyone that wants to know what Microsoft technologies have to offer to accomplish Service Oriented Architecture.
Professional Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio 2010 Book Review
This is a pretty sweet book. There are a ton of features in Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server 2010. This book does a great job of covering all of them that are related to Application Lifecycle Management.
2009
Sticking it to the Man, Our Day will Come
As I look out across the industry at what companies are doing to employees, at least in IT, what I see disgusted me. Many companies are not refusing to pay because they can’t; they are refusing to pay because they want to take advantage of the current economy. Fear is holding employees prisoner to job conditions they normally would have never seen.
Microsoft Application Architecture Guide 2nd Edition Book Review
If you are a .NET Architect, Developer, or Project Manger of a .NET team, you should have this book at your side.
Introduction to the SEI Framework for Software Product Line Practice Webinar
You can now register for the second of three webinars in a three-part series on Software Product Line Management.
Technical Interviews and Interviewers that Suck and how to Avoid Them
Over the past 6 to 9 months I have interviewed with quite a few companies. The current economy has created a few new breeds of interviewer, breeds our field could do without.....
The Process of Software Architecting Book Review
If you are involved in software development in anyway, you should read this book. It is the story of how it is supposed to be.
Favorite Sayings of State Government Managers and the Interpretations
I recently resigned from my state position. Not wanting to waste any of the valuable lessons I learned there, I thought I would impart them to the rest of the world.
Software and Systems Requirements Engineering In Practice
This little book is packed with sound advice.
Requirements Engineering: From System Goals to UML Models to Software Specifications Book Review
This is not for the happy go lucky requirements gatherer. It is a detailed breakdown of everything requirements engineering for software intensive systems. It will make you think.
2008
New Learning Resources for the Software and System Architect
There are a lot of new learning resources available for the Software and System Architect. I have gathered some of the best together.
Environmental Constraints, Business Requirements, and Implementation Details
Environmental constraints often play a big part in an application's architecture. Although we like to pretend the slate is wide open with possibilities for implementing users requests, it would be naïve to ignore the technical, political, and user environment constraints always present on any decent size project....
Living for Hope in Fear of the F Bomb
Einstein said it: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
Service-Oriented Architectures and Software Product Lines
SEI has published a new report titled "Proceedings of the First Workshop on Service-Oriented Architectures and Product Lines". It discusses the commonalities and the differences with service-oriented architecture (SOA) and software product line (SPL) approaches.
Models for Evaluating and Improving Architecture Competence
SEI has released a new paper titled Models for Evaluating and Improving Architecture Competence.
Cool Links IV- .NET 3.5, Architecture, AJAX, UML, EPF, Patterns, GOF, VSTS 2008, WPF, Silverlight, SQL 2008, XAML
This is the fourth installment of cool links. It includes links on .NET 3.5, Architecture, AJAX, UML, EPF, Patterns, GOF, VSTS 2008, WPF, Silverlight, SQL 2008, XAML, SPARX EA, Visio, Seam Carving, New Books, FXCop, etc.
The Customer is not Always Right and Death to the YES Man (Workaholic)
I don't care how many times I hear it, how many authors print it, and how many salesmen preach it, the customer is not always right.
The delusions of an unreal deadline and its deliverables.
Using deadlines as an excuse to skip doing proper architecture and design is just that, an excuse. It is not a reason.
2007
Synthesis-Based Software Architecture Design
This is a very good thesis on Synthesis-Based Software Architecture Design. I have pasted the Chapter titles and the abstract from the paper below.
What do Project Managers, Software Architects, and Software Process Engineers have in common? Some say? Unnecessary Overhead
Software Process Engineers, sometimes called Software Process Architects, are now in the same boat the Project Manager and Software Architect was in a few years ago. They are seen as a good selling point, but that is about it.
COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management
SEI has released COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management.
Mandamagement and Division of Labor
In the situation that happened sometime ago with a project manager that did not know when to stop, and let the people who do architecture and development take over, there was a lot of Mandamagement done. It was to the point where I had to exercise my belief that sometimes the best thing for a project is for me to leave it.
Agile Development != Low Ceremony && The Movement Needs to Die
Low ceremony does not have anything to do with being agile. Agile is an enabled state that is only accomplished through experience. It can be learned, but absolutely not by doing less.
Governing for Enterprise Security (GES) Implementation Guide Available
SEI has posted a Governing for Enterprise Security (GES) Implementation Guide. It is a great read.
CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering
If you haven't checked out CrossTalk yet, I'd suggest you do. There are some great articles and the back issues can be downloaded.
