The Complete Guide to Becoming a Software Architect Course

Module 1: Introduction to Software Architecture

⏳ 45 minutes

• Define the role and responsibilities of a software architect.

• Understand stakeholders, architectural drivers, and quality attributes.

• Explore the architecture decision record (ADR) process.

Module 2: Architectural Patterns & Styles

⏳ 1 hour

• Compare monolithic vs. layered vs. microservices architectures.

• Implement event-driven, service-oriented, and hexagonal patterns.

• Assess when to apply each style based on project needs.

Module 3: Modeling & Documentation Techniques

⏳ 1 hour 15 minutes

• Create use-case diagrams, component diagrams, and sequence diagrams in UML.

• Develop C4 model views for context, containers, components, and code.

• Maintain living documentation and ADRs.

Module 4: Non-Functional Requirements & Trade-Offs

⏳ 1 hour

• Quantify scalability, performance, availability, and security requirements.

• Perform trade-off analysis using ATAM and risk assessment.

• Apply caching, sharding, and load-balancing strategies.

Module 5: Microservices & Cloud-Native Architecture

⏳ 1 hour 30 minutes

• Design microservice boundaries and inter-service communication.

• Use API gateways, service meshes, and circuit breakers.

• Leverage containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes).

Module 6: Data Architecture & Integration

⏳ 1 hour

• Choose between SQL, NoSQL, and polyglot persistence.

• Implement event sourcing, CQRS, and stream processing patterns.

• Design data pipelines and ETL/ELT workflows.

Module 7: Security, Compliance & DevSecOps

⏳ 45 minutes

• Integrate security by design: authentication, authorization, and encryption.

• Align architecture with compliance standards (GDPR, HIPAA).

• Incorporate automated security scans and policy as code.

Module 8: Leadership, Governance & Reviews

⏳ 1 hour

• Facilitate architecture review boards and design walkthroughs.

• Mentor and advocate best practices within teams.

• Establish governance frameworks and versioning for architecture artifacts.

Module 9: Case Studies & Real-World Scenarios

⏳ 1 hour

• Analyze architecture of high-scale systems (e-commerce, streaming, IoT).

• Learn from successes and failures of industry-leading platforms.

• Apply lessons to capstone design exercise.

Module 10: Career Path & Certification Prep

⏳ 30 minutes

• Prepare for TOGAF, AWS/Azure Solutions Architect, and interviews.

• Develop a personal learning roadmap and portfolio projects.

• Understand salary benchmarks and negotiation strategies.

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