[DEVOXX UK 2021] Architecture Katas : Improve your system architecture design skills in a funny way !

Do you know that one of the most important pitfall in software design is lack of experience?
Ted Newards also noticed this by asking this question: "How are we supposed to get great architects, if they only get the chance to architect fewer than a half-dozen times in their career?"
Fortunately, he proposed a way to get better in this field: the architecture katas. it's a kind of coding dojos for software designers. I implemented it in my company and I would like to give you a feedback and expose the obtained benefits.

Transcript

1. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   Architecture Katas:
   Improve your system architecture design skills in a funny way !
   Alexandre Touret
   @touret_alex
   blog.touret.info
   www.worldline.com
   

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2. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   Architecture Katas:
   Improve your system architecture design skills in a funny way !
   Alexandre Touret
   Architect / Developer
   #Java #API #CI #Cloud #Software_Craftsmanship
   

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3. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   A DEVELOPER STORY
   Spoiler Alert: everything is going to be OK
   

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4. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   

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5. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   

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6. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   “All architecture is design but not all design is architecture. Architecture
   represents the significant design decisions that shape a system, where
   significant is measured by cost of change. “
   Grady Booch
   

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7. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   

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8. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   

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9. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
   “So how are we supposed to get great architects, if they only get
   the chance to architect fewer than a half-dozen times in their
   career?”
   Ted Neward
   

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10. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    KATAS
    

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11. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    “Kata originally were teaching and training methods by which successful
    combat techniques were preserved and passed on. Practising kata
    allowed a company of persons to engage in a struggle using a
    systematic approaches, rather by practising in a repetitive manner the
    learner develops the ability to execute those techniques and movements
    in a natural, reflex-like manner. […]”
    

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12. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    ARCHITECTURE KATAS
    

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13. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Stage #1 : Warm-up (5mn)
    • Build teams mixing different profiles
    • No need of any computer!
    • Paper sheets and pens are enough
    • Try to find a suitable syntax and formalism
    

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14. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Stage# 2: Design (1H)
    • All the teams get the subject
    • We could ask any question we want to the moderator
    • Teams could take any assumption (if it’s relevant)
    • We could use any technology we want
    

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15. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    An exemple: Poorest roads
    Public administration has been struggling identifying poorest roads to refurbish.
    With the help of new car connectivity features, they would like to get circulation traffic
    dynamic dashboards.
    These one could help them determining which road worths to be revamped.
    […]
    Key figure: 1 transaction per second per car
    

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16. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Stage #3 : Peer Review (5mn/team)
    You now have to present your design, how you respond to it…
    … and explain your solution to the other teams
    

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17. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    

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18. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    @ Worldline
    • We started some initiatives setting up katas as a regular meeting (before the COVID19
    crisis)
    • We started online sessions using Zoom
    • We contextualized and complexified step by step the addressed subjects
    

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19. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Benefits
    • Working in a new team on a new subject
    • Identifying and dealing with requirements
    • Communicating and persuading
    • Understand other ways of thinking
    • Getting better thanks to colleague's experience
    

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20. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Our wishes
    • Using these brainstorming sessions for our next application designs
    • Integrating Architecture Katas into software architecture training sessions
    

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21. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    Going further
    • http://nealford.com/katas/list.html
    • https://archkatas.herokuapp.com
    • https://blog.worldline.tech/2019/12/12/architecture-katas.html
    • https://www.thoughtworks.com/books/fundamentals-of-software-architecture
    

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22. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    “By dint of building well, you get to be a good architect”
    Aristotle
    

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23. #ArchitectureKatas @touret_alex
    

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