It is me? I've often felt that people in the business of Software Development crave for making beautiful things. After all, Software Development is a form of architecture.
But why would one bother making solid architectures, if, in contrast to 'real' architectures, nobody ever sees it? If appreciation is beyond the eye of the beholder, what would be the point? Shouldn't software then just be functional, and above all: "quickly written"? Especially given the unfortunate track record of project delays in IT...
I believe not. For so many good reasons. Why is it clear to anyone architecture as an afterthought for buildings would lead to disasters, but harder to imagine what poor Software would be created in the same manner?
Ironically, I am convinced many IT projects fail because they are written too hasty. Often too little time is spent to thought-out architectures, and as nobody gets time off during office hours to read... too little or no time at all is spent to flirt with the very muse for thought-out architectures: books! Lots of them!
Therefore, I thought putting a shortlist of (technical) books I've read recently to let you know what I've been reading and to -hopefully- show your architecture is in good hands!
- Java Concurrency in practice (Parallel Computing -- ISBN 978-0321349606)
- iPhone in action (Mobile Application Platform Development -- ISBN 193398886X)
- Open Source ESBs in Action (Enterprise Integration Architectures -- ISBN 1933988215)
- JBoss jBPM (Business Process Management -- ISBN 978-1-847192-36-3)