Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups discuss the first half of Mark Richards and Neal Ford's book on software architecture and trade-offs.
This week on the Book Overflow podcast, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups read the first half of "Fundamentals of Software Architecture" by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. They discuss what exactly software architecture is, how everything is a trade-off, and how we can keep our architectural skills sharp as software engineers. You don't want to miss this great discussion!
Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!
Books Referenced in this Episode:
Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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- Fundamentals of Software Architecture amzn.to/4at9EWj (Paid Link)
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Intro
About the Book and Authors
Initial Thoughts on the Book
Eight Core Expectations of a Software Architect
First Law: Everything is a Trade-off
Second Law: Why is More Important Than How
Technical Breadth vs Technical Depth
The Frozen Caveman Anti-Pattern
Modularity and System Design
Architecture Characteristics and Trade-offs
Architectural Katas - Practice for Architects
Fitness Functions and Measuring Architecture
Architectural Quantum and Component Thinking
Conway's Law - Team Structure Shapes Architecture
Final Thoughts
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Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!
The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at bookoverflow.io
Why it's here
1 person recommends this
What people say. Recommended by the podcast hosts as a deep dive into software architecture fundamentals and trade-offs.
c
u/carterdmorganin r/ExperiencedDevs • Recommends
On “Is there a comprehensive systems design book you’d recommend?”
Check out *Fundamentals of Software Architecture* by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. It's neatly divided into three sections: The first focuses on all the different areas one might want to consider when designing a system (scalability, reliability, etc.). The second focuses on all the different kinds of system architectures (microservices, event-driven, monolith, etc.) and discusses their pros and cons. It's *incredibly* informative. The third section is all about the soft skills needed to sell a technical vision. Super good content, but maybe not exactly what you're looking for.
If you're interested in just the highlights, I host a podcast called Book Overflow (YouTube link here, but we're on…
Good question. I'm not familiar with books about impact and influence targeted specifically at mid-level developers, but I know a few for people a little more senior that I bet you could get some good mileage out of.
- *The Staff Engineer's Path* by Tanya Reilly. Exactly what it sounds like. Basically a how-to guide on what it means to be a staff engineer. Since staff needs to influence at a much higher level, there's a lot of great advice about communication and choosing the right projects.
- *Fundamentals of Software Architecture* by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. This is already a great overview on all the different kinds of software architecture, but it also has a great section on how to…
