Fundamentals of Software Architecture

An Engineering Approach

By: Mark Richards, Neal Ford

Narrated by: Benjamin Lange

Salary surveys worldwide regularly place software architect in the top 10 best jobs, yet no real guide exists to help developers become architects. Until now. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of software architecture’s many aspects. Aspiring and existing architects alike will examine architectural characteristics, architectural patterns, component determination, diagramming and presenting architecture, evolutionary architecture, and many other topics.

Mark Richards and Neal Ford—hands-on practitioners who have taught software architecture classes professionally for years—focus on architecture principles that apply across all technology stacks. You’ll explore software architecture in a modern light, taking into account all the innovations of the past decade.

This book examines:

• Architecture patterns: the technical basis for many architectural decisions
• Components: identification, coupling, cohesion, partitioning, and granularity
• Soft skills: effective team management, meetings, negotiation, presentations, and more
• Modernity: engineering practices and operational approaches that have changed radically in the past few years
• Architecture as an engineering discipline: repeatable results, metrics, and concrete valuations that add rigor to software architecture

©2020 Mark Richards and Neal Ford (P)2021 Upfront Books

the narration is a masterpiece

We all know how awesome Neal and Mark are, but I want to emphasize the amazing job of Benjamin Lange of paraphrasing the pictures to make them suitable for an audio book, something that only him and Theodore O'Brian do as opposed to most narrators who just read what is written without caring if it makes sense to the listener: "Figure x shows an example of that. " :)

Packed with information!

I'm an experienced software developer, but software architecture is one of my weakest areas, so I was hoping that this audiobook would provide valuable information on that subject. The book surpassed my expectations and has peaked my interest, so I've already purchased a digital version (through Humble Bundle) along with other books on that topic so that I may continue learning. This is one of the rare times where, while listening, I've truly appreciated the quality of the narration. This book is packed with great information; I highly recommend it to those who, like me, wish to learn more about software architecture.

Excellent foundational book

Excellent foundational architecture book. Goes through many different architectures and gives you the tools for weighing the pros and cons. They also do a good job of modifying the book to be consumable in audio format.

My only complaint is that it doesn't go through enough scenarios (katas) and instead spends time talking about things such as: how to create an effective powerpoint presentation and checklists where a lot of what was listed can be handled with CI. The beginning is also very academic and not super helpful. I'm not still clear on the nuanced difference between Connascence and Coupling and I'm not sure that it matters.

The meat of the book is in the middle and the meat is very good.

Clear narrator

I liked the affirmation that I was to understand the book without the need for diagrams, even though the physical book has them. Maybe I would have but I would do stuff while listening. Will re-listen and adjust my rating if it delivers a little more on that. Of course I understand I won't get the same comprehension as sitting down and reading the book.

Loved it

Not relevant to my current position but as a person who spend 5 years in IT I found it very interesting.