I came across a post of Michael Stal reasoning why architects should code. This is a hot topic! I'm still struggling to find my own view on this matter. On the one hand, I of course agree it is right and good help refine the core to obtain the more concrete, tactical design and to supervise its implementation. That is why, among other reasons, I think architects should act hands-on in the implementation process.
Let's bring in some nuance and another perspective that Michael hasn't considered to the argument. What is an architect? I always refer to skyscrapr's taxonomy of architecture disciplines in which the window of the architectural perspective has been set to: Solution Architecture, Infrastructure Architecture, Strategic Architecture, and Industry Architecture. I see myself as a Solution Architect and feel responsible for deciding which technologies to use and work very closely with developers to ensure proper implementation, share vision and help with process, tools, principles and standards.
Should I code?
I think the answer to why architects should code or not lies deeper. Food for thought:
"Leadership is not something you do to people but something you do with people"
Today I attended to a WPF session. All good until we ended up discussing the applicability of WPF. The audience noted that internet is not open to innovation. I tried to convince the crowd that, actually, the opposite is true, especially if you look at the adoption of RSS. To some RSS and XAML are completely different kinds of things although they both are declarative XML-based languages. Another issue that popped up is related to standards. Yes, the drawback to WPF/E is that it’s not going to be WPF for other platforms. It will certainly provide some good functionality, but it will lack the more impressive features of WPF. And although Flex 2 and Apollo lag behind, the cross platform support is a significant advantage. In the end, time will tell how innovation will drive these technologies forward. From the positive side of things, it is great to
unleash the innovator in all of us to provide an even better user experience! Even for our, rather dull, administrative applications :D