How can you stay up to date with System Architecture trends as a self-employed architect?

I’ve learned how a community is importante when I got my first job that only was possible due to my contributions on a php forum - a recruiter read my post and invited me for job interview. Communities and forums are two-way road where you teach and learn on the same time. Even the great professionals has something to learn, and communities and forums allow that. Socrates once said “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”, so keep leaning.

Acho que ter contato com pessoas é o mais fundamental, principalmente ao conversar com pessoas que já testaram ou viveram ambientes reais que aplicam conceitos específicos. Um segundo ponto é testar, gosto muito de realizar poc's e estudos de caso sobre assuntos de interesse.

Staying up to date on system architecture trends as a self-employed architect requires constant commitment, but it is absolutely necessary to learn and stay abreast of developments in the industry, and it is especially necessary to find work. From personal experience I can say that continuous curiosity and a continuous desire to overcome one's knowledge limits is necessary. Experimentation and practice are key. The VirtualBox and VMware tools are very useful for creating a network of virtual computers where you can experiment and put into practice what you learn. There is no limit to your imagination for the applications to experiment with. Hands-on experience helps you better understand the concepts and challenges of systems architecture.

As a self-employed architect, it's crucial to advertise our competencies. Maintaining a good github repo : GitHub repo is architect's online portfolio. We can display our architectural design choices, coding abilities, and problem-solving skills.This allows potential clients and employers to easily see our capabilities and get a sense of our work style. Open Source Contributions: Open source projects are often at the forefront of technological innovation. By contributing to these projects, we stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in system architecture. These contribution also showcases our willingness to learn new tech and stay ahead of the curve.

As a self employed architect, building business acumen is critical when it comes to consulting with clients. Most clients have tight budgets and deadlines and therefore require designs that fit into their constraints but also add immediate business value. Also, it makes sense to also study low code and no code platforms because at times this could be a recommendation for a client in the short term.