> This is like saying only carpenters should be able to design houses No, it's really not. For that analogy to work, architecture (house design) would have to

> This is like saying only carpenters should be able to design houses No, it's really not. For that analogy to work, architecture (house design) would have to be a skill best learnt via carpentry (i.e. hands-on house building), when there's pretty clearly minimal connection. If there were, we'd see many successful architects who'd started in the building trades, just as we DO see many developers rise up through the ranks to become seasoned veterans capable of architecting complex systems. The thing is, most software system requirements could be translated into many proposed alternate architectures (decompositions, inter-module interface definitions, technology choices, etc, etc). They may all look viable on the white board, but it takes years of experience to understand what works and what doesn't - what the consequences of those design choices are, and how they will impact development, debugging, operational support, future changes/extensions, etc.