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Is it okay for a Senior Technical Architect to know nothing about writing code?

2 points by ninjakeyboard ↗ HN
Is it okay to not know what you're doing as a senior technical architect? In a dream I worked with someone who worked on software for a couple years and never committed anything. He lost the source so had to decompile the build and start building on that. He took code from the codebase, copied and pasted it, commented some stuff out and then checked in literally copied and pasted code with changed log statements. He didn't understand there was a problem with duplicating code like that. How does this happen? How does a senior architect get to that level and have absolutely no development experience.

6 comments

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Rainb
Yes, but it is better a Senior Techinical Architect that knows how to code. (But why wouldn't you start learning?, it's not that hard.)
bobfirestone
I know several people who have architect titles that are horrible coders and over engineer everything they touch. None of them are as bad as your dream but none would be on my list of people to call when things need to get done now.
CyberFonic
If the company I worked for hired a STA without appropriate coal face experience, I would quit. Simple as that. Any system such a person designs is almost certain to end up being a death march project.

Any management who would hire such a person would also be suspected of gross incompetence.

As you say it was only a bad dream. Hope you never have to face such a reality.

factorialboy
> How does a senior architect get to that level and have absolutely no development experience.

Depends on what the "senior architect" role requires.

Quite often it means making boxes and slides in large enterprisy organizations.

AnotherMarc
No way any architect should know nothing about writing code, or have no dev experience.

It is ok if they don't know everything, but would expect anyone in a senior position to know their limitations (and be able to shore them up if it's important).