simondelliott

Computer architecture?

What is the difference  between an architect and a programmer?

The metaphore of considering a large system to be a building a very close, and extremely accurate simile. However real architects have spent many thousands of years defining and expanding their craft, but in essence a computer architect is performing the same role as building architect, it just that all his or her tools are only 30 years old.

Gaudi did not know how to fire a brick or join a staircase.
Burnell did not know how to weld a joint or lift an key stone
Eiffel did not know how to roll an RSJ or pin a steel plate.

They designed using abstraction, and the forms they designed are a meta abstraction on the skills of the craftsmen that made them. Computer architecture is the meta design above the logic of coding, integration and configuration. Programmers and script kiddies are artisans rather than architects. The currency of the architect is form and function. The architect has to trust the artisan to implement his or her vision.