Foundations
$999
6 months of access
Enroll at IDesignUFor one architect who wants the method and the material, at their own pace.
- 49 lessons, 38 hours of material
- Complete video module library
- Sample projects, diagrams, resources
In partnership with IDesign
The Architect’s
Master Class
Transform your career. 49 lessons. 38 hours. Your pace.
Enroll Watch Juval on the role of the architect
Built for the person in the room.
Architects, tech leads, engineering managers and senior developers who have felt a system get away from them.
You have asked yourself
- How can I make my career bullet-proof?
- What method can give me the skills to consistently achieve results?
- Is it really possible to build software without bugs?
- What is the single most important task facing the software architect?
- What is the division of labour between the architect and the project manager?
- How tied should the architecture be to the technology underneath it, or to the specifics of the business?
- Where is the hand-off point between the architect and the developers?
Engineers from these companies took the class.
The whole class. Recorded, complete, yours.
Nine modules, sample projects, diagrams and resources. Most people take it over five days in a single pass.
49
lessons
38h
of material
82
topics across nine modules
3,000+
architects taught
Self-paced, online
Start any day. Keep it for six months or a year.
The video library, the sample projects and the diagrams, on your own schedule. A certificate from IDesign on request when you finish.
For teams
Six to twenty seats, with a Lateral principal in the room.
The same class as a cohort, plus a live working session where the method meets a system you are actually building. You keep the decomposition.
Talk about a cohortTaught by Juval Löwy.
Founder of IDesign. Author of Righting Software. Named a Software Legend by Microsoft.
He has spent decades architecting systems across hundreds of projects, took part in Microsoft’s internal strategic design reviews for C# and related products, and has argued that services belong at the foundation of software design since long before the industry agreed.
He has taught this material to several thousand architects, which is the part that shows. The class is not a book read aloud.
- Master software architect
- Eight bestsellers, over a hundred articles
- Over a thousand conference sessions
Watch
Juval on the role of the architect.
Nine modules. 49 lessons.
The syllabus as taught. Open a module to see what is inside.
01The Architect5 topics
- Software development as engineering
- Types of architects
- The role of the architect
- Architects and technology
- Architects and the business
02Microservices Development Process20 topics
- Design granularity effect on the project
- The design and the team
- System and service lifecycle
- Project design
- AI and documentation
- Composable design
- AI and the future of development
- AI and agility
- AI spec-driven development
- Design hand-off point
- Architect and the team
- Developer onboarding
- Career of the architect
- Quality assurance and quality control
- Design for performance
- Service simulation and emulation
- Peer reviews
- Development and design standards
- Metrics collection
- Management visibility
03Introduction to Service-Orientation3 topics
- Why service orientation
- Service-oriented architecture
- Service-oriented applications
04Service Contract Design and Factoring5 topics
- Service contract design
- Contract factoring techniques
- Contract metrics
- Contract factoring process
- Sample project
05Design and Architecture14 topics
- The IDesign Method
- Classic mistakes
- Volatility-based decomposition
- Universal design principles
- The architect’s challenge
- Axes of volatility
- Design example
- Volatility and the business
- Open and closed architecture
- Structure: clients, managers, engines, resource access, utilities
- Design validation
- Containing changes
- Design don’ts
- Design aspects
06Architect in the Age of AI17 topics
- AI code design flaws
- AI technical debt
- AI code design integrity and reuse
- AI code complexity and correctness
- AI code cost
- AI cognitive surrender
- Quality of AI code
- AI code and difficult problems
- AI cost management options
- Architect collaborating with AI
- Reducing complexity by design
- AI taxing senior developers
- How to stay in control with senior developers
- Programming lifecycle
- Hybrid AI / senior developer teams
- Obtaining and grooming senior developers
- What comes next
07Fractal Architecture9 topics
- Software design goals
- Complicated vs. complex
- Complex software systems
- Self-similarity and fractals
- Fractal examples and design patterns
- AI modeling
- Fractal design guidelines
- Simulations
- Fractal and detailed design
08Agile and Design6 topics
- Agile in the wild
- Skills and Agile development
- Design as the key to agility
- Agile as an assembly process
- Agile and lean manufacturing
- Compressing Agile projects
09Groupthink3 topics
- What about Monday
- The pitfall of groupthink
- Architect as agent of change
Real architects. Real growth.
“I have never had the pleasure to attend a training class or seminar so completely packed with valuable, insightful information. This class has been the single best investment I have ever made in training and skills advancement.”
Michael EmmersonChief Architect“After placing myself and two other regional architects on the Architect’s Master Class, we are now practicing the Method on some highly complex software applications, and have developed a solid methodology around it.”
Shaun KiesewetterChief Architect“Light years ahead of the industry in terms of content and the sheer volume of knowledge presented. A unique experience to see the world through the eyes of world-class architects and learn their way of thinking.”
Stuart SnaddonSoftware Engineer“Far and away the best training class I have ever taken. It transcends technological trends and gives you practical knowledge that will be useful for almost any platform and for the rest of your career.”
“Enlightening beyond my expectations, and this is even after prior experience with IDesign. Juval has orders of magnitude more relevant experience across the industry than nearly anyone else, and it shows.”
“I never thought it was possible to learn so much in a few days, and my only regret is that the class was not longer. I highly recommend it for anyone contemplating an architecture career or working closely with architects.”
Which one is right for you?
Same class, three ways in. Enrolment and payment happen at IDesignU. As a partner, we can tell you what that is worth on the price: ask us first ›
Most popular
Professional
$1,599
12 months of access, plus the community
Enroll at IDesignUFor professionals who want a year with the material and a network of peers working the same method.
- Everything in Foundations
- 12 months of course access
- Invite-only community membership, one year
Executive
$5,999
Personalised, by application
Apply at IDesignUFor CTOs, founders and senior architects who want office hours, an executive peer network and priority access to in-person events.
- Everything in Professional
- Office hours with IDesign
- Executive peer network, one year
- Priority access to in-person events
Corporate plans and team cohorts: talk to us ›
Why do this?
Become indispensable.
The architect who can prove a design before construction is the one the room waits for.
Create ten times the value.
Decomposition by volatility means the next requirement is a change, not a rewrite.
Learn the breakthroughs, not the fashions.
Service contracts, the IDesign Method and fractal architecture, from the person who wrote them down.
Change how you build software.
And how you talk about it to the people who pay for it.
Questions, answered.
How is this different from other architecture training?
It is about the person, not the diagram. The class is called the Architect’s Master Class, not the Architecture Master Class, because it spends as much time on judgement, standing and career as on decomposition.
How is the class structured?
Two halves. Process and project design first: how the architect, the project manager and the developers, human and AI, divide the work. Then design skill: service contracts, the IDesign Method, fractal architecture. It closes with what to change on Monday.
How long does it take?
Most people take the 38 hours over five days in one pass, then return to the parts that matter to the system in front of them. Six or twelve months of access, by tier.
Is it tied to a technology stack?
No. The principles are technology-agnostic. The emphasis is on method, process and mindset, which outlive any tool.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes, on request and on completion, from IDesign.
Can my company send a team?
Yes. For six to twenty people, Lateral runs the class as a cohort with a live working session on one of your own systems, sized with IDesign’s corporate plan.
Join the next Master Class.
Pick a tier and start today, or bring your team and we will run it with you.