"GOTO Copenhagen 2014 is designed for software developers, IT architects, agilists, product owners and project managers who want to go into depth with one or more subject areas e.g. Java, .Net, JavaScript, Web, Mobile, Cloud, Lean/Agile, and Architecture. Each training offers a chance to develop your skills and become more effective in your work. The conference includes 8-12 daily trainings. You can choose to sign up for just one training, a two-day-training, or join one training each day– it’s completely up to you! Our trainers are authors, experts and practitioners across various areas of software development so you get a chance to learn from and network with the best".

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Simon Brown, Coding the Architecture

Simon Brown

Biography: Simon Brown

Simon lives in Jersey (the largest of the Channel Islands) and works as an independent consultant, helping teams to build better software. His client list spans over 20 countries and includes organisations ranging from small technology startups through to global household names. Simon is an award-winning speaker and the author of Software Architecture for Developers - a developer-friendly guide to software architecture, technical leadership and the balance with agility. He still codes too.

Twitter: @simonbrown
Blog: simonbrown.je

Workshop: Simple sketches for diagramming your software architecture

Track: Simple sketches for diagramming your software architecture / Time: Tuesday 09:45 - 17:30 / Location: Room 7

Agility is about moving fast and this requires good communication. A consistent, shared vision is essential in order for teams to push in the same direction, but it's surprising that many teams struggle to effectively communicate the architecture of the software they are building. As an industry we do have the Unified Modeling Language (UML), yet many people favour informal boxes and lines sketches instead. The problem is that such diagrams rarely make any sense, usually need a narrative to accompany them and ultimately slow the team down. Although we can argue whether UML offers an effective way to communicate software architecture, that's often irrelevant because many teams have already thrown out UML or simply don't know it. Abandoning UML is one thing but, in the race for agility, many software development teams have lost the ability to communicate visually too.

This hands-on session is aimed at those involved in the software development process and is about improving communication. You’ll see some patterns and anti-patterns related to "boxes and lines" diagrams, and you’ll learn some lightweight techniques for communicating software architecture using simple sketches.