Get Lanyrd on your mobile (iPhone, Android and more) - check it out here

Sessions at Pacific Northwest Software Symposium about Software Architecture

Your current filters are…

Saturday 24th September 2011

  • Understanding Enterprise Architecture

    by Mark Richards

    Enterprise Architecture (EA) is one of the most misunderstood terms in our industry. Ask 10 people what EA is and you will get 10 different answers. To better understand what EA is and how it impacts your company (and you!) we will go back in time to maritime Britain in the late 1700's. Through exercises in designing a fleet of war ships and making decisions about what to do with the fleet you will understand the various approaches, directions, and implications of EA and how necessary EA is to achieve any company goal. So put your admirals hat on and climb aboard for a maritime adventure you won't forget!

    Agenda:

    • Introduction: What is Enterprise Architecture?
    • EA approaches (Designing the fleet)
    • EA direction (Deploying the fleet)
    • Five Common enterprise architecture pitfalls
    • Enterprise architecture references
    • Summary and QA

    Prerequisite: Not prone to sea sickness, willingness to have fun

    At 1:30pm to 3:00pm, Saturday 24th September

    In Salon A, Westin Bellevue

  • The Art of Problem Solving

    by Mark Richards

    I commonly think of those of us in the IT industry as problem solvers. Whether developer, designer, or architect, we are all presented with problems and work to find a way to solve them, usually through technology. In my opinion this is what makes this industry so much fun. Let's face it - we all love challenges. Sometimes, however, the problems we have to solve are hard - really hard. So how do you go about solving really hard problems? That's what this session is about - Heuristics, the art of problem solving. In this session you will learn how to approach problems and also learn some the common techniques for solving them effectively. So put on your thinking cap and get ready to solve some easy, fun, and hard problems.
    Agenda:

    • the checklist
    • you know what happens when you assume...
    • you gotta start somewhere
    • hey! keep it clean!
    • we should take the trail to the left...I think...
    • the world is flat (or is it?)
    • techniques summary

    Prerequisite: An open mind and a willingness to learn how to better approach and solve problems

    At 3:15pm to 4:45pm, Saturday 24th September

    In Salon A, Westin Bellevue

Sunday 25th September 2011

  • Pragmatic Architecture

    by Ted Neward

    Building an application is not the straightforward exercise it used to be. Decisions regarding which architectural approaches to take (n-tier, client/server), which user interface approaches to take (Smart/rich client, thin client, Ajax), even how to communicate between processes (Web services, distributed objects, REST)... it's enough to drive the most dedicated designer nuts. This talk discusses the goals of an application architecture and why developers should concern themselves with architecture in the first place. Then, it dives into the meat of the various architectural considerations available; the pros and cons of JavaWebStart, ClickOnce, SWT, Swing, JavaFX, GWT, Ajax, RMI, JAX-WS, , JMS, MSMQ, transactional processing, and more.

    After that, the basic architectural discussion from the first part is, with the aid of the audience in a more interactive workshop style, applied to a real-world problem, discussing the performance and scalability ramifications of the various communication options, user interface options, and more.

    At 2:15pm to 3:45pm, Sunday 25th September

    In Salon A, Westin Bellevue

  • Architectural Kata Workshop

    by Ted Neward

    Fred Brooks said, "How do we get great designers? Great designers design, of course." So how do we get great architects? Great architects architect. But architecting a software system is a rare opportunity for the non-architect.

    The kata is an ancient tradition, born of the martial arts, designed to give the student the opportunity to practice more than basics in a semi-realistic way. The coding kata, created by Dave Thomas, is an opportunity for the developer to try a language or tool to solve a problem slightly more complex than "Hello world". The architectural kata, like the coding kata, is an opportunity for the student-architect to practice architecting a software system.

    In this session, attendees will be split into small groups and given a "real world" business problem (the kata). Attendees will be expected to formulate an architectural vision for the project, asking questions (of the instructor) as necessary to better understand the requirements, then defend questions (posed by both the instructor and their fellow attendees) about their choice in technology and approach, and then evaluate others' efforts in a similar fashion. No equipment is necessary to participate--the great architect has no need of tools, just their mind and the customers' participation and feedback.

    At 4:00pm to 5:30pm, Sunday 25th September

    In Lake Sammamish, Westin Bellevue