At Should Architects Also Code and Should Architects Also Code 2 Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz has continued the long-running debate as to whether architects should write code. Although this is a debate within the traditional community, it isn't within the agile community: good architects code, end of discussion. Arnon agrees that architects need to participate in the project; the best way to test a design is to code and run it; it is beneficial for architects to know to code; and it is important that architects understand the implications of their decisions on the code and developers. This is a great start, and is actually quite forward thinking in the traditional world. Agilists take it one step further and take an agile approach both to project architecture and to enterprise architecture. Arnon's advice is superb within the context of a traditional environment, but isn't quite there yet for people in an agile environment.
It's an interesting debate either way.