Reddit mentions of Software Requirements (Developer Best Practices)

It's never too early to familiarize yourself with best and current practices within the field.

I'm not sure what your financial situation is as a student, but I would start by locating and getting in contact with the IIBA or PMI local chapter closest to your home or university. It is an invaluable way to build your professional network, discuss the field, and listen to lectures and presentations built on real world experience.

There are also a number of websites which have useful information about the field (white papers, articles, etc.):

• BA Times
  
  
• Modern Analyst
  
  
• Bridging the Gap
  
  
• Mastering Business Analysis - Dave Saboe also hosts a great podcast of the same name
  
  If you are inclined to purchase books, I've found the following very useful in my career:
  
  
• Software Requirements 3rd edition
  
  
• User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development
  
  
• User Story Mapping
  
  I would say start with the free websites, immerse yourself in the culture/field and take in all you can. Participate in the r/BusinessAnalysis forum. Finally, network your butt off get a job and start your career.
  
  If you have any other questions feel free to ask or PM me.
  

When I was still in school a few years ago, yes there are universities that offer courses specifically on software architecture, usually as a senior-level or graduate-level course. Most require some industry experience as a prerequisite.

• Carnegie Mellon, SEI
  
• Georgia Tech
  
• University of Southern California
  
• Rochester Institute of Technology
  
  There's also apparently a free Udacity course by Georgia Tech.
  
  > I need to understand this fairly well to evaluate companies in the ecosystem.
  
  Much like design, there is no "good" or "bad" architecture; it is only useful in solving certain problems, or it is not useful. Architecture is influenced by the requirements of the product, products, or product lines they are delivering, but also the existing technical environment (I assume that's what you're thinking of evaluating), and the organizational structure of the company. See this excerpt from Software Architecture in Practice.
  
  Without understanding the full context of which the "architecture" was created, it is actually quite difficult to evaluate. Sometimes it is obviously underperforming because the negative effects are extremely visible. But even if it looks ok on the surface, it may be flawed on the premise of satisfying stakeholder requirements, which is even hard for engineers working on the product.
  
  > I imagine that learning it well enough to communicate with developers and understand business use cases and competitive advantages of certain innovations in the space is the end goal.
  
  If this is your goal, then learning more about software requirements sounds like the better approach. This aspect of software engineering directly addresses your business use case concern. Software Requirements by Weigers is pretty good.
  
  > I found a full stack web development specialization at coursera - does that sound like the type of course that might cover all this?
  
  No, that teaches implementation for a specific stack and a architecture - Angular, NodeJS, Ionic, Express, and MongoDB using a Client-server architecture. It doesn't teach you how to critically analyze a system.

Take a look at the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) and pick up Wiegers' book on Software Requirements.

Software Requirements

Software Requirements (3rd Edition) (Developer Best Practices) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0735679665/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_91JMDbRFCPG5X

Need TEST BANK for the following textbook. PM me ASAP!!!!

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Software Requirements, Third Edition, Wiegers and Beatty, Microsoft

Press, 2014. ISBN-13: 978-0-7356-7966-5

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Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Software-Requirements-Developer-Best-Practices/dp/0735679665/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539023244&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Software+Requirements%2C+Third+Edition%2C+Wiegers+and+Beatty%2C+Microsoft+Press%2C+2014.+ISBN-13%3A+978-0-7356-7966-5

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