The Architecture of Open Source Applications Volume II

In the introduction to Volume 1 of this series, we wrote:

Building architecture and software architecture have a lot in common, but there is one crucial difference. While architects study thousands of buildings in their training and during their careers, most software developers only ever get to know a handful of large programs well… As a result, they repeat one another's mistakes rather than building on one another's successes… This book is our attempt to change that.

In the year since that book appeared, over two dozen people have worked hard to create the sequel you have in your hands. They have done so because they believe, as we do, that software design can and should be taught by example—that the best way to learn how think like an expert is to study how experts think. From web servers and compilers through health record management systems to the infrastructure that Mozilla uses to get Firefox out the door, there are lessons all around us. We hope that by collecting some of them together in this book, we can help you become a better developer.