Need to learn designing

[Tina Desai]

I know this is a very vague and popular wish.

The thing is I have done SCJP, SCWCD and SCBCD. Im mostly getting to work on the J2EE projects.. though EJB a little less. But when it comes to designing for the entire application from scratch, I go clueless. I know I want to do it right architecturally, so being a perfectionist mmay be it gives me something like a blank screen syndrome.. donno but the thing is that I want to be better at designing.

Im able to take the single module through desing and coding and all cycles very well. And generally there are architects available so I can get some or other help also. But then I want to do something that makes me able to design systems confidently and with as little help or no help at all.

Any suggestions what I can do?

Will the architect certification help? Should I take some small steps before going for the certification?

Thanks a lot!!
[ June 28, 2007: Message edited by: Tina Desai ]

[Pawan Shrivastava]

Hi Tina,

From my experience you are going in the right direction as you said, you can handle a module. Confidence will come with the time. Also the more you know about the requirement of the system, better you will be able to design the system with little or no help. Certification, though it might give you some confidence but can not teach you how to design that you have to learn by yourself. In reality its almost impossible to design the system perfectly in one go, infact you have several iterations to improve your design and coding. Remember, never design for future, but keep your system flexible enough to adapt change. Its a difficult combination, that you will learn from your experience. Also a tip - if you like someone's design just ask them how they started and did that.

My suggesiton would be concentrate on the requirement. See other project requirement / design document in your company and learn from your's and other's experience.

Once you have gained some confidence, go for SCEA. 2nd part in the exam is bit tough if you are new to desin but it will polish your skills better.

Hope it helps

Regards,
Pawan

[Gabriel Claramunt]

Tina,
Somewhat humorously, I posted in my blog a recipe of how go to code from requirements using OOAD and UML... Is very condensed and I leaved out lots of details, but maybe you can use as a starting point.
My recipe for OOAD with UML
Tell me if you find it useful

[Tina Desai]

Thanks to both of you.

Gabriel, your recipe is too good. I really stopped at the ingredient as "working brain" and worried about myself ...then burst into laughter when I read the comment in the bracket! I know a little UML but for knowing the rest of the recipe, I think my capability fell somewhat less

Pawan, thanks for the encouraging words. You commented that confidence will come slowly. Its the basic problem that I somewhere did not accept. Confidence. That's what I dont feel when I sit to design for the entire project.

I think it will help if I take some assignments on my home for fun purpose, pursue them alongside and learn from it. or knowing that I dont get much time at home, should I ask for such assignments at work only? What do you suggest?

Thanks to both of you again!

[Gabriel Claramunt]

A great tool for learning/practice/do real work are CRC cards.
Find some use cases in the web and try to "implement" them using CRC cards...