What are the best ways to gain hands-on experience in System Architecture?

I consider it 3 step process which helped me alot in my career. I dont value online courses much. Step 1: Your core concepts about things should be stronger. With weak core concepts you cant excel in there. Step 2: Study big system architectures around and observe how and why they evolved over time. Study Google, Netflix, Meta, Uber and many more. Step 3: Learn things about changing technologies around and how they are evolving over the period of time.

Online courses are definitely a great way to getting started to have an understanding of system architecture. But online courses can only help you develop a mindset of building great scalable architectures. The real win to master the system architecture is when a developer does hands-on practice on their own. Experience is definitely an important factor to consider as well as more and more systems you work on, the better understanding you develop.

Apart from online courses that are available from many companies, it is also good to read whitepapers and architecture documents published by AWS, Azure and GCP. Going through a lot of architecture patterns, enables you to identify common architectural patterns that you can apply for your specific business problem.

Adquirir experiencia práctica en arquitectura de sistemas es crucial para desarrollar habilidades sólidas en este campo. Aquí hay algunas formas efectivas de ganar experiencia: Proyectos Personales: Inicia proyectos personales para aplicar los conceptos teóricos que has aprendido. Desarrolla aplicaciones o sistemas peque?os desde cero para comprender mejor los desafíos prácticos. Participación en Proyectos de Código Abierto: Contribuir a proyectos de código abierto es una excelente manera de aprender y colaborar con profesionales experimentados. Puedes trabajar en aspectos relacionados con la arquitectura y recibir retroalimentación valiosa.

It is always best when you are building anything in real-time, it is realistic and remains with you for a long time. But I am not against of online learning courses, it is good to start with.

Personal projects are a creative way to apply your knowledge and experiment with various technologies and architectures. You can choose a project that interests you, like a web app, mobile app, game, or tool, and implement it using best practices. These projects help you learn from other developers and showcase your skills to potential employers or clients. In my experience, you truly learn by applying what you've learned. Creating my own test projects and architectures provided real challenges and practical solutions, making it one of my most significant learning experiences.

Nothing beats the experience gained by hands-on work. You may read/learn lot of stuff via tutorials but the confidence that you gain by actually implementing your learnings on projects is actually invaluable. You may make mistakes ( we all do!) and its fine. The learnings that you gain by mistakes are the stepping stones for success. You may work on any accelerator tool or open source library. The good way to start is to understand how the enterprise libraries have been designed and learn from them. You may also bid for projects on various platforms that will help you gain invaluable insights from actual customer projects. Get engaged on forums and try to solve developer issues. The more you get involved in the community the better it is!

Estudia sistemas existentes para comprender cómo fueron dise?ados y las decisiones de arquitectura que se tomaron. Identifica posibles mejoras y considera cómo podrías haber abordado esos desafíos.

To gain hands-on system architecture experience via personal projects: 1. Define project objectives clearly. 2. Select relevant technologies considering scalability and security. 3. Design architecture with diagrams and documentation. 4. Create a development environment reflecting the architecture. 5. Implement features based on goals and design. 6. Continuously iterate, test, and refine the project. 7. Thoroughly test for bugs and implement testing strategies. 8. Document progress, challenges, and lessons learned. 9. Seek feedback from peers, mentors, or online communities.

Build your portfolio. This is one of the best first projects to take on. At times it can get pretty meta, but building things online and showing them on the thing you built online is a great way to showcase skills. If this is your first project, start small. Keep scope creep at bay by reminding yourself to finish and take an iterative approach. That first iteration may not be close to perfection and that's ok. It's done. And you did it. Take this opportunity to push yourself and learn something new that is achievable. As you continue down this path, add these projects to your portfolio and continue to build and refine the portfolio itself. Just keep building.

To participate effectively in system architecture hackathons: 1. Research relevant events aligning with your skills. 2. Form a cohesive team with complementary skills. 3. Understand the challenge thoroughly. 4. Strategize architectural considerations and allocate roles. 5. Prototype and validate solutions swiftly. 6. Utilize tools and resources for efficient development. 7. Seek mentorship for guidance and feedback. 8. Collaborate closely with team members for iterative improvement. 9. Document the process and lessons learned. 10. Present solutions effectively, emphasizing design rationale. 11. Network and learn from peers and industry experts. 12. Reflect on feedback for personal growth.

Thinking beyond the box helps you to gain the hands on experience as System Architecture. If you can cover maximum scenarios which may occur and can implement the best practices, keep the system open for future enhancements, and if the system is capable to take the load then you have hit the bulls eye. All of this can be learned by making mistake or learning from other's mistakes. There is no short cut for the Experience ;)

To gain hands-on experience in system architecture through open-source contributions: 1. Choose projects aligned with your interests. 2. Understand project goals and coding standards. 3. Start with small tasks to learn the workflow. 4. Engage with the project's community for guidance. 5. Contribute code following project guidelines. 6. Learn from feedback during code reviews. 7. Collaborate with others on larger tasks. 8. Document your contributions for future reference. 9. Seek mentorship from experienced contributors. 10. Attend events to deepen your knowledge. 11. Stay committed to consistent contributions. 12. Celebrate achievements and reflect on progress.

To seek professional guidance and mentorship in system architecture: 1. Identify experienced mentors in your organization or industry networks. 2. Reach out respectfully via email or networking events, expressing your interest. 3. Clearly outline your goals for mentorship, such as skill improvement or career advancement. 4. Schedule regular meetings, respecting your mentor's time and preparing questions. 5. Ask thoughtful questions during meetings, seeking insights based on their experience. 6. Share your work with your mentor for feedback and improvement suggestions. 7. Act on advice provided by your mentor, implementing new concepts and practices. 8. If possible, shadow your mentor to observe their decision-making and communication.

As architects we have to design systems and whilst reading articles helps there are times this doesnt answer all of our questions. This is when doing a PoC / proof of concept targeting those areas can help.

To gain hands-on experience in System Architecture, engage in practical endeavors while honing soft skills. Utilize resources like "Software Architecture: The Hard Parts" by Mark Richards to understand intricate challenges. Embrace Evolutionary Architecture principles for adaptable systems. Additionally, consider the "Software Architect Elevator" series, focusing on soft skills crucial for communication and collaboration. Dive into projects to apply theoretical knowledge, and seek mentorship for guidance. Participate in tech communities to stay updated. Combining experience with soft skills development ensures effective growth in System Architecture.