In Beyond Software Architecture, Luke Hohmann addresses all things paramount to software product development that are usually not covered in books on software development. These things include licensing, software protection, branding, marketing and business plans and how they relate to the technical architecture and more. Every developer or architect that has been around a few projects probably will probably recognize the importance of some, if not all of these areas, in relation to creating and sustaining a winning solution.
The first and probably most important topic covered is the relation between the business model and the technical architecture. It is really an understatement to claim that the chosen business model has a serious and real impact on the technical architecture – it should be self evident that there the architecture will look quite different in an ASP scenario and a single user desktop application… Less self evident is the relation between the business plan and the technical architecture. What business segments are being targeted and in which order really does bear on the architecture. Each business segment will have its particular needs to be addressed as features in the software solution. The order is important since it will help spell out the technical roadmap for future releases.
The book covers a large number of topics and gives advice on a number of specific issues, too many to cover here. I have chosen but a few that have stuck after finishing the book.
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