In the current context, a Software Architect needs to be aware of and gain a broader perspective. With so many sources of information (blogs, social media, news articles, etc.), information overload is a problem. It is important to prioritise your reading preferences.

Your area of expertise/interest (e.g., user experience, web, data integration, machine learning / artificial intelligence / IoT, DevOps) will also influence your reading priorities. Your reading priority is also driven by your area of interest/skillset (user experience, web, data integration, machine learning / artificial intelligence / IoT, DevOps, etc.).

You can create your reading list based on the context above. This article, however, outlines engineering blogs that every architect (segmented by knowledge category) should read as a generalist in order to cover different aspects related to architecture. Although most of these blogs cover all of these topics, we have chosen to focus on the following areas because they are considered more informative.

1. Software Architecture & Design

  • InfoQ covers architecture, design and culture, as well as engineering topics (Data Analytics, AI, Machine Learning, DevOps), with articles written by 250K+ subscribers. Also published guides (mini-books), Podcasts, and Presentations.
  • DZone covers many topics, including Agile, DevOps, and Cloud. It has 2M+ subscribers and publishes research, webinars, and records.
  • OReilly—Although it is a paid service, the blog provides a wealth of information on cloud architecture and next-generation technology. It is also accessible to everyone. The blog offers separate research, deep dive, signals (new tools/ideas), and commentary (perspectives).

2. Cloud Architecture

It’s no surprise that you are following the blogs of 3 major cloud service providers in this area. This should cover all key topics, including reference architecture, guidelines and best practices. :

  • AWS Architecture Blog
  • Microsoft Azure Architecture Blog
  • Google Cloud Architecture Blog

3. User Experience

Three key engineering blogs are worth mentioning for their contributions to open source and the community.

  • Airbnb Engineering has several areas of expertise (OpenSource, AI, Data Mobile, Infrastructure, Mobile), but its Web (UI) work is particularly interesting. They have blogs on TypeScript, JavaScript Renderings, React, and other technologies.
  • Instagram Engineering provides very insightful articles about Mobile experience (Android and iOS), with a focus on performance and rendering.
  • Twitter Engineering – With the many libraries and utilities that they have contributed to open source. Engineering innovations can be found in blogs related to UI and other areas.

4. Data, ML & AI

It is important to note that the purpose of listing only three blogs is not to overwhelm you but to provide you with these essential blogs to start with. Kaggle is a platform that allows you to learn and experiment.

  • Facebook Engineering—Though they cover a wide range of topics, including Infrastructure, Platform, and Video Engineering, they have a lot of great content about AI and ML, given Facebook’s heavy use of these technologies.
  • Uber Engineering Blog: This blog addresses real-world challenges in scalability, machine learning, and other engineering areas and provides insight into the work done behind the Uber platform.
  • Kaggle is a one-stop shop for code (400K+ notebooks), data (50K+ datasets), and other data science tools.

5. Cloud-native Microservices

  • Martin Fowler’s Personal Blog – Martin Fowler is a thought leader who has introduced many patterns, including circuit breakers, testing approaches, continuous delivery patterns, continuous integration patterns and more.
  • This site covers a wide range of topics related to Microservices Architecture, from foundational elements to design patterns.
  • Netflix Tech Blog: Netflix has a wealth of engineering stories. Their contribution to Microservices and Cloud-native Architecture with Chaos Engineering is phenomenal.

6. Infrastructure & DevOps

  • GitHub Engineering Blog
  • Atlassian Engineering Blog
  • DevOps.com

The sites listed above are a good place to start if you want to expand your knowledge of software architecture. Continue reading and share your knowledge with others.