97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know

Chapter 22. Architectural Tradeoffs

Mark Richards is a director and senior solutions architect at Collaborative Consulting, LLC, where he is involved in the architecture and design of large-scale service-oriented architectures in J2EE and other technologies, primarily in the financial services industry. He has been involved in the software industry since 1984, and has significant experience in J2EE architecture and development, object-oriented design and development, and systems integration.

—Mark Richards

EVERY SOFTWARE ARCHITECT should know and understand that you can't have it all. It is virtually impossible to design an architecture that has high performance, high availability, a high level of security, and a high degree of abstraction all at the same time. There is a true story that software architects should know, understand, and be able to communicate to clients and colleagues. It is the story of a ship called the Vasa.

In the 1620s Sweden and Poland were at war. Wanting a quick end to this costly war, the king of Sweden commissioned the building of a ship called the Vasa. Now, this was no ordinary ship. The requirements for this ship were unlike any other ship of that time; it was to be more than 200 feet long, carry 64 guns on two gun decks, and have the ability to transport 300 troops safely across the waters into Poland. Time was of the essence, and money was tight (sound ...