Ulrich and Newcomb's book offers a comprehensive examination of the challenges of growing software-intensive systems. Every system has an architecture, but as the authors explain, it is only by continuous, intentional architectural transformation that one can attend to costs while simultaneously creating a mechanism wherein innovation may flourish.

I enjoyed the many case studies. Every circumstance is unique, but the authors have offer up best practices for systems modernization from their experience. Their focus on architecture as an artifact for governance is sound, but they go far beyond the technical issues and address many of the social and economic practices that help one evolve a good technical architecture.

From the moment one writes a line of code, it becomes legacy, and that legacy accumulates. Whether it becomes a cause of innovation inertia or a source of future value is a factor of how it is continuously modernized. (more...)