Formerly known as Foundations Friday Forum, we (Mark Richards and Neal Ford) decided to change the format for 2024 and make the forum into a live virtual bookclub podcast focusing on one of our books. For 2024 we’ll be focusing on our latest book, Head First Software Architecture (O’Reilly, due to be officially published in March or April of 2024), and will be joined by our co-author Raju Gandhi. You can view the pre-release version of our book on the O’Reilly Platform.
The format for the bookclub podcast will essentially be the same as the prior Foundations Friday Forum. We will hold a free live virtual event around the first Friday of the month, and will spend the first 20 minutes or so discussing a chapter from one of our books. We will then entertain questions from the audience related to that chapter topic (or other areas of software architecture you have questions about). Since it will be a live recorded podcast (voice only), we’ll be sure to respect attendee privacy with regards to names and identity.
Seating is still limited to 100 participants, so register early and sign in early to ensure a seat.
Bookclub Podcast Events
Episode 1: Friday, February 2, 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 1: Let’s Get Started!
In this podcast we talk about our upcoming book Head First Software Architecture and dive into some of the topics in the first chapter, including the dimensions of software architecture, logical vs. physical architecture, and the differences between architecture and design.
Episode 2: Thursday, March 7, 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 2: Architectural Characteristics
In this live question/answer driven podcast we talk about the second chapter of Head First Software Architecture, and take a detailed look at what we call architectural characteristics (what some people call non-functional requirements), including how to define them, identify them, categorize them, and unravel the complexity of composite architectural characteristics (things like reliability and agility).
Episode 3: Friday, April 12, 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 3: Everything’s a Trade-off
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on trade-off analysis, the focus of chapter 3 of Head First Software Architecture. Here we dive into how to do trade-off analysis in software architecture and how it impacts architectural decisions. We then talk about our two laws of software architecture, and how to write effective architecture decision records.
Episode 4: Friday, May 3, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 4: Logical Components
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 4 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss logical components—the building blocks of a system. Here we talk about how to identify logical components, coupling, and building a logical architecture.
Episode 5: Friday, June 7, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 5: Architectural Styles
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 5 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss architectural partitioning and the differences between monolithic and distributed architectures (and when to use each).
Episode 6: Friday, July 12, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 6: Layered Architecture
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 6 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss the traditional N-Tiered Layered Architecture and when to use it (and not to use it).
Episode 7: Friday, August 2, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 7: Modular Monolith
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 7 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss Modular Monoliths, which have gained in popularity over the years–particularly with the increased use of Domain-Driven Design.
Episode 8: Friday, September 6, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 8: Microkernel Architecture
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 8 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss the Microkernel Architecture–also commonly known as the plug-in architecture style.
Episode 9: Thursday, October 3, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EST
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 10: Microservices Architecture
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 10 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss the ever-popular microservices architecture style.
Episode 10: Friday, November 1, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EDT
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 11: Event-Driven Architecture
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 11 of Head First Software Architecture and discuss event-driven architecture. We’ll cover topics such as differences between events and messages, event processor granularity, and the differences between event-driven architecture and microservices.
Episode 11: Friday, December 13, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm EDT
Head First Software Architecture
Chapter 13: Techniques and Softskills
In this live question/answer driven podcast we focus on chapter 13 (the Appendix) of Head First Software Architecture and discuss things like the coding architect, soft skills, what an architect is expected to do, and how to practice architecture using katas. This episode will end the Head First Software Architecture book. In 2025 we’ll move onto our latest publication, the Fundamentals of Software Architecture 2nd Edition.
Registration: https://developertoarchitect.clickmeeting.com/software-architecture-bookclub-podcast-episode-11/register