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Evolutionary Architectures
Fri, 26 April
With the pace of change in the technology landscape, business models, and customer expectations, we have outlived the ability to plan our technology roadmaps for multiple years. We’ve been rethinking how to keep software systems able to adjust to the changes that actually happen, and not just the changes we think will happen. This thinking, embodied in the concepts of Evolutionary Architecture, allows us to monitor that the architectural characteristics that are critical to the success of our systems are retained as the functionality, the business, and the technology evolve.
CTO Emerita, Thoughtworks, and co-author of the book ‘Building Evolutionary Architectures: Support Constant Change’, Dr. Rebecca Parsons, will take participants through a thorough exploration of the foundational principles that distinguish Evolutionary Architecture from traditional architectural approaches. The talk will present some principles of evolutionary architecture that allow systems to respond to change without needing to predict the future. She will then briefly describe techniques that realize these principles and discuss how these approaches support adaptability of systems in an evolutionary way. She will also describe some innovative approaches to fitness functions developed to preserve different kinds of architectural characteristics.
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About the speaker
Rebecca Parsons
Chief Technology Officer Emerita, ThoughtWorks
Dr Rebecca Parsons holds the title of Chief Technology Officer Emerita at Thoughtworks, with a distinguished tenure as the CTO since 2007. Throughout her role as CTO, she demonstrated exceptional leadership in driving Thoughtworks' technological excellence. Transitioning to the position of Emerita CTO, she continues to shape the company's technology strategy and contribute to various internal technical groups along with serving as the representative of Thoughtworks at prominent industry events.
With a deep-rooted passion for technology, she has remained a dedicated enthusiast in the field for an extensive period. Before her association with Thoughtworks in 1999, she garnered notable achievements as a researcher and university lecturer specializing in computer science. Her academic journey included the completion of her degree, Master's, and Ph.D., during which, she directed her research towards domains such as compilers, program optimization, distributed computation, programming languages, theory of computation, machine learning, and computational biology.
In 2007, she assumed the role of CTO, taking charge of Thoughtworks' pursuit of technological excellence. Beyond her expertise in technology, she has been a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion within the industry, specifically aiming to increase the representation of women in coding and STEM fields. This commitment to inclusivity led her to serve on the boards of CodeChix, AnitaB.org, and the Agile Alliance, while also providing guidance as an advisor to Women Who Code.
