SD Times released an article that mentioned key topics/technologies from each of the past 5 years. The article also discussed a few possibilities for 2003. Here are the labels given to '98-'02, according to SD Times:
| 2002 |
Year of Web Services |
| 2001 |
Year of XML, .NET |
| 2000 |
Year of Enterprise Java |
| 1999 |
Year of Linux |
| 1998 |
Year of the Web |
I think that 2003 should be the Year of the Architect or the Year of Architecture. I know that software architecture has been around for a while, but I don't think I've seen anything boom as much this year as architectural topics, discussions, and most of all, job titles. I have never, in my years within IT, heard one single word thrown around so much, and have people understand so little about what it actually means. Sure, everyone can make a general assumption as far as what an “architecture” is and what “architects” do, but these generalizations are usually not true to reality. I have heard XML a lot, but the term “architect” goes beyond a technology implementation like XML does. We have software architects, component architects, enterprise architects, data architects, domain architects, requirements architects, document architects, and PowerPoint architects. Basically, if you work with some sort of noun, you can be a noun architect, too! Heck, throw it all together and you can be a .NET/J2EE XML Web Service Architect. Sounds pretty good, huh? Ridiculous. Bah!