On October 3 and 4, Apiumhub organized the Global Software Architecture Summit in sunny Barcelona. Over 16 speakers attended the event to share their knowledge and expertise with over 450 attendees. During the event, we had the opportunity to interview Carola Lilienthal, author of Sustainable Software Architecture: Analyze and Reduce Technical Debt and coauthor of Software Architecture Metrics, who also spoke at the conference, to get to know more about herself and her favorite software architecture metrics. Keep reading to learn more about Carola Lilienthal!

Briefly introduce yourself

My name is Carola Lilienthal, and I am from Hamburg, Germany. I am currently a software architect working as the manager of my own company, WPS – Workplace Solutions, in which we have a team of 140 developers divided into 10 teams that create wonderful software for our clients.

What can you say about the Global Software Architecture Summit this year?

It is my first time attending the event, but it’s the second time it’s been done, and it’s really wonderful that it’s in Barcelona, which is a wonderful city. I’ve already seen like 400 people sitting in the big room talking. I have also had the chance to talk with people from all over the world. It’s really great if you want to connect in Europe and all over the world.

What are the key software architecture insights you could share with GSAS attendees?

My giveaway for any architect I have met in the world is ¨do it as simple as possible¨. This is our job. Our job is to create simple architecture because the other people, the programmers that come behind us, have to deal with our legacy. They need something they can understand, so it has to be simple.

Can you briefly comment on your Software Architecture metrics book chapter?

My chapter in the book is about my favorite metrics. It’s called the modularity maturity metric. What we do here is calculate one metric between zero and ten for the whole system out of many little other metrics to really describe if a system is well done from a point of view of modularity, which is the most important thing in architecture. You’ll need small bits and pieces as well as larger bits and pieces with high coercion and low coupling between them.

Interested in attending GSAS next year? Keep an eye on the event’s website to not miss any details about the venue, speakers, or talks. We will be posting interviews like this one with Carola Lilienthal and talks from the event on our Youtube channel, make sure you subscribe to get our notifications.