"Residues" & "The Architect’s Paradox" • Barry O'Reilly & Jacqui Read

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here Barry O"Reilly - Founder at Black Tulip Tech and Author of "Residues" & "The Architect"s Paradox" Jacqui Read - Software Architect, Speaker & Author of "Communication Patterns" RESOURCES Barry https://bsky.app/profile/technologytulip.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-o-reilly-b924657 https://www.blacktulip.se Jacqui https://bsky.app/profile/tekiegirl.bsky.social https://jacquiread.com https://fosstodon.org/@tekiegirl https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelineread https://github.com/tekiegirl DESCRIPTION In this GOTO Book Club interview, Jacqui Read discusses with Barry O"Reilly his books "Residues: Time, Uncertainty, and Change in Software Architecture" and "The Architect"s Paradox". He explains how uncertainty defines the architect"s role and introduces residuality—a method where architects deliberately stress their conceptual models until they collapse, then optimize the resulting "residues" or leftovers to create more resilient systems. Unlike traditional software engineering approaches, that try to eliminate uncertainty through rigid requirements, residuality embraces random stressors (even far-fetched scenarios like giant lizards) to uncover architectural fault lines. O"Reilly argues that this playful yet mathematically sound approach produces more robust architectures than conventional methods, and his second book explores how inherited philosophical thinking often undermines software architecture"s effectiveness in complex business contexts. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Barry O"Reilly • Residues Barry O"Reilly • The Architect"s Paradox Jacqui Read • Communication Patterns Anne Currie & Jamie Dobson • The Cloud Native Attitude Gregor Hohpe • The Software Architect Elevator Gregor Hohpe • Enterprise Integration Patterns, Vol 2 Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!