Right Your Software and Transform Your Career

Righting Software presents the proven, structured, and highly engineered approach to software design that renowned architect Juval Löwy has practiced and taught around the world. Although companies of every kind have successfully implemented his original design ideas across hundreds of systems, these insights have never before appeared in print.

Based on first principles in software engineering and a comprehensive set of matching tools and techniques, Löwy’s methodology integrates system design and project design. First, he describes the primary area where many software architects fail and shows how to decompose a system into smaller building blocks or services, based on volatility. Next, he shows how to flow an effective project design from the system design; how to accurately calculate the project duration, cost, and risk; and how to devise multiple execution options.

The method and principles in Righting Software apply regardless of your project and company size, technology, platform, or industry. Löwy starts the reader on a journey that addresses the critical challenges of software development today by righting software systems and projects as well as careers–and possibly the software industry as a whole. Software professionals, architects, project leads, or managers at any stage of their career will benefit greatly from this book, which provides guidance and knowledge that would otherwise take decades and many projects to acquire.

Even now, software projects keep failing at an alarming rate, many that make it out the door are rife with defects, and even “reliable” software systems often don’t meet expectations. Rank and file programmers act as mere technicians; software architects are inadequately trained for success, and the information available to them is haphazard, inconsistent, or wrong. In  Righting Software, Juval Löwy helps overcome these problems by introducing a structured and highly engineered approach for system and project design that’s proven to work. 

Löwy’s software design methodology integrates two components that are intimately connected:  system design (commonly known as architecture) and  project design. Together, these comprise  software design. For system design, he presents an engineered method for decomposing a system into smaller building blocks, or services – addressing the area where the vast majority of software architects currently fail. Next, he shows how to flow an effective project design from your system design, accurately calculating planned duration, cost, and risk, and devising several good execution options. 
The techniques and ideas in  Righting Software apply regardless of software technologies, platforms, project size, company size, or industry – and they’re specifically designed to address today’s core causes of software failure.    

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  •  Targets the specific reasons so many software projects still fail, even when they’re carefully architected and developed with agile methods
• •  Helps students integrate the two key elements of software design that must work together: system design and project design
• •  Includes a complete, start-to-finish case study
• •  By Microsoft Software Legend Juval Löwy, one of the world’s leading experts in effective software engineering
  
  Review

Praise for Juval Löwy’s Software Architect Course 

“I attended both the Architect’s Master Class and the Project Design Master Class. Before these two classes I had almost lost all hope of ever being able to figure out why the efforts of my team were never leading to a successful end, and I was struggling to find a working solution to stop the insane death march we were on. The Master Classes opened my eyes to a world where software development is elevated to the level of all other engineering disciplines and is conducted in a professional, predictable, and reliable manner, resulting in high-quality working software developed on time and within budget. The knowledge gained is priceless! From revealing how to create a solid and sound architecture, which withstands ever-changing user requirements, to the intricate details on how to plan and guide the project to a successful end―all this was presented with expertise and professionalism that are hard to match. Considering that every bit of distilled truth Juval shared with us in class is acquired, tested, and proven in real life, it transforms this learning experience into a powerful body of knowledge that is an absolute necessity for anyone who aspires to be a Software Architect.”

–Rossen Totev, software architect/project lead

“The Project Design Master Class is a career-changing event. Having come from an environment where deadlines and budgets are almost pathologically abused, having the opportunity to learn from Juval was a godsend. Piece by piece he provided the parts and the appropriate tools for properly designing a project. The result is that costs and timelines are kept in check in the dynamic and even chaotic environment of modern software development. Juval says that you are going to engage in asymmetric warfare against overdue and over cost, and you walk away truly feeling that you have a gun to take to a knife fight. There is no magic―only the application of basic engineering and manufacturing tenets to software―but you will go back to your office feeling like a wizard.”

–Matt Robold, software development manager, West Covina Service Group

“The software project I work on was plagued with breakneck deadlines for years. Trying to understand software development methodologies and proper process felt like an energy drain because I had to battle management’s unwillingness to change, on top of meeting the unreasonable demands of my clients. I was fighting a war on two fronts and felt hopeless. I felt like a rMnin. The Master Class provided a rush of clarity I never knew existed. It taught the exact knowledge that I was searching for. I learned profound techniques that transformed my understanding of how software projects operate. I now have the tools to efficiently and effectively navigate my project in a torrent of never-ending requirement changes. In a world of chaos this class brought order. I am forever grateful to IDesign. My life will never be the same.”

–Aaron Friedman, software architect

“Life changing. I feel like a tuned piano after collecting dust for a couple of decades.”

–Jordan Jan, CTO/architect

“Fantastic experience. Changed my way of thinking on how to approach software development. I always knew some of what I was thinking was right with regard to design and coding. I never could express it in words but now I have them. It not only affects my way of thinking about software design but also other types of design.”

–Lee Messick, lead architect

“The course was amazing. Easily this was the most intense but rewarding week of my professional life.”

–Stoil Pankov, software architect

“Learning from Juval Lowy has changed my life. I went from being just a developer to being a true software architect, applying engineering principles from other disciplines to design not just software, but also my career.”

–Kory Torgersen, software architect

“The Architect Master Class is a life lesson on skills and design―which I took twice. It was so transformational the first time I attended that I wished I had taken this class decades back, when I started my career. Even taking it for the second time has only gotten me to 25% because the ideas are so profound. The required brain rewiring and unlearning is really painful, but I needed to come back again with more of my colleagues. Finally, every day that goes by I reflect back on what Juval said in the classes and use that to help my teams implementing even the small things so that we can all eventually call ourselves Professional Engineers. (P.S. I took 100 pages of notes second time around!)”

–Jaysu Jeyachandran, software development manager, Nielsen

“If you are frustrated, lacking energy, and demotivated after seeing and experiencing many failed attempts of our industry, the class is a boost of rejuvenation. It takes you to the next level of professional maturity and also gives you the hope and confidence that you can apply things properly. You will leave the Project Design Master Class with a new mindset and enough priceless tools that will give you no excuse to ever fail a software project. You get to practice, you get your hands dirty, you get insight, and experience. Yes, you CAN be accurate when it is time to provide your stakeholders with the cost, the time, and the risk of a project. Now, just don’t wait for a company to send you to this class. If you are serious about your career, you should hurry to take this or any IDesign Master Classes. It is the best self-investment you can make. Thank the entire great team of IDesign for their continuous efforts in helping the software industry become a solid engineering discipline.”

–Lucian Marian, software architect, Mirabel

“As someone in their late twenties, relatively early in their career, I can honestly say that this course has changed my life and the way I view my career path. I honestly expect this to be one of the most pivotal points of my life.”

–Alex Karpowich, software architect
 

“I wanted to thank you for a (professional) life-changing week. Usually I can’t sit at class more than 50% of the time–it is boring and they don’t teach me anything I couldn’t teach myself or already know. In the Architect’s Master Class I sat for nine hours a day and couldn’t get enough of it: I learned what my responsibilities are as an architect (I thought the architect is only the software designer), the engineering aspect of software, the importance of delivering not only on time but also on budget and on quality, not to wait to ‘grow’ to be an architect but to manage my career, and how to quantify and measure what I previously considered as hunches. I have much more insight from this week and many pieces are now in place. I can’t wait to attend the next Master Class.”
–Itai Zolberg, software architect