Topics you need to learn to become .net Architect in 2025
To become a proficient .NET Architect, you need a blend of technical depth, design knowledge, leadership skills, and a strategic mindset. Here's a structured list of topics you should learn and master:
🔷 Core .NET & Language Fundamentals
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C# Advanced (Generics, Delegates, LINQ, Async/Await, Span, Memory)
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.NET Runtime & CLR internals
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Exception Handling Best Practices
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Performance tuning and memory management
🔷 Design & Architecture Patterns
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SOLID principles
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Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
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Clean Architecture
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Onion Architecture
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Hexagonal Architecture (Ports and Adapters)
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Microservices vs Monolith
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Event-Driven Architecture
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CQRS and Event Sourcing
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Repository, Unit of Work, Specification Patterns
🔷 .NET Core & ASP.NET Core
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ASP.NET Core MVC / Razor Pages / Minimal APIs
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Middleware & Request Pipeline
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Dependency Injection (DI/IoC)
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Configuration & Options Pattern
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Model Binding & Validation
🔷 API Development
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RESTful API Design
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gRPC (for high-performance APIs)
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GraphQL (optional but modern)
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OpenAPI / Swagger Documentation
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API Versioning
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API Security (OAuth2, JWT, etc.)
🔷 Database & Data Access
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Entity Framework Core (Advanced)
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Dapper or other ORMs
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SQL Server (T-SQL, Indexing, Query Plans)
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NoSQL: MongoDB, Redis, Cosmos DB (as needed)
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Caching Strategies
🔷 Messaging & Eventing
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Message Brokers: RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus, Kafka
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Pub/Sub Patterns
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Event-Driven Design
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Idempotency, Retry, and Dead-lettering
🔷 DevOps & CI/CD
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Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions / Jenkins
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Build Pipelines & Release Pipelines
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Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform / Bicep / ARM
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Docker & Kubernetes (AKS)
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Monitoring & Logging: App Insights, ELK, Grafana, Prometheus
🔷 Cloud-Native & Azure
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Azure App Services / Azure Functions
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Azure Storage (Blob, Queue, Table)
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Azure API Management
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Azure Identity (AD B2C, AAD)
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Azure Key Vault, App Configuration
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Azure Service Bus, Event Grid, Event Hub
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Resilient Architecture in Cloud (Circuit Breakers, Timeouts, etc.)
🔷 Security & Best Practices
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Authentication & Authorization (JWT, OAuth2, OpenID Connect)
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Secure Coding Practices
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OWASP Top 10
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Data Encryption at rest/in-transit
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Role-based & Policy-based Authorization
🔷 Testing & Quality
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Unit Testing: xUnit, NUnit, MSTest
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Integration Testing
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Test-Driven Development (TDD)
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Mocking (Moq, NSubstitute)
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Code Coverage & Static Analysis
🔷 Frontend Knowledge (Basic to Moderate)
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Razor, Blazor, or integration with Angular/React
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API consumption and security from frontend
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SSR/CSR concepts
🔷 Soft Skills & Leadership
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Solution Design & Estimation
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Technical Documentation
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Mentoring Developers
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Stakeholder Communication
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Decision Making & Trade-offs
Would you like a learning roadmap or curated resources (books, courses, GitHub projects) for these topics?