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

  • C# Advanced (Generics, Delegates, LINQ, Async/Await, Span, Memory)

  • .NET Runtime & CLR internals

  • Exception Handling Best Practices

  • Performance tuning and memory management


🔷 Design & Architecture Patterns

  • SOLID principles

  • Domain-Driven Design (DDD)

  • Clean Architecture

  • Onion Architecture

  • Hexagonal Architecture (Ports and Adapters)

  • Microservices vs Monolith

  • Event-Driven Architecture

  • CQRS and Event Sourcing

  • Repository, Unit of Work, Specification Patterns


🔷 .NET Core & ASP.NET Core

  • ASP.NET Core MVC / Razor Pages / Minimal APIs

  • Middleware & Request Pipeline

  • Dependency Injection (DI/IoC)

  • Configuration & Options Pattern

  • Model Binding & Validation


🔷 API Development

  • RESTful API Design

  • gRPC (for high-performance APIs)

  • GraphQL (optional but modern)

  • OpenAPI / Swagger Documentation

  • API Versioning

  • API Security (OAuth2, JWT, etc.)


🔷 Database & Data Access

  • Entity Framework Core (Advanced)

  • Dapper or other ORMs

  • SQL Server (T-SQL, Indexing, Query Plans)

  • NoSQL: MongoDB, Redis, Cosmos DB (as needed)

  • Caching Strategies


🔷 Messaging & Eventing

  • Message Brokers: RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus, Kafka

  • Pub/Sub Patterns

  • Event-Driven Design

  • Idempotency, Retry, and Dead-lettering


🔷 DevOps & CI/CD

  • Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions / Jenkins

  • Build Pipelines & Release Pipelines

  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform / Bicep / ARM

  • Docker & Kubernetes (AKS)

  • Monitoring & Logging: App Insights, ELK, Grafana, Prometheus


🔷 Cloud-Native & Azure

  • Azure App Services / Azure Functions

  • Azure Storage (Blob, Queue, Table)

  • Azure API Management

  • Azure Identity (AD B2C, AAD)

  • Azure Key Vault, App Configuration

  • Azure Service Bus, Event Grid, Event Hub

  • Resilient Architecture in Cloud (Circuit Breakers, Timeouts, etc.)


🔷 Security & Best Practices

  • Authentication & Authorization (JWT, OAuth2, OpenID Connect)

  • Secure Coding Practices

  • OWASP Top 10

  • Data Encryption at rest/in-transit

  • Role-based & Policy-based Authorization


🔷 Testing & Quality

  • Unit Testing: xUnit, NUnit, MSTest

  • Integration Testing

  • Test-Driven Development (TDD)

  • Mocking (Moq, NSubstitute)

  • Code Coverage & Static Analysis


🔷 Frontend Knowledge (Basic to Moderate)

  • Razor, Blazor, or integration with Angular/React

  • API consumption and security from frontend

  • SSR/CSR concepts


🔷 Soft Skills & Leadership

  • Solution Design & Estimation

  • Technical Documentation

  • Mentoring Developers

  • Stakeholder Communication

  • Decision Making & Trade-offs


 

Would you like a learning roadmap or curated resources (books, courses, GitHub projects) for these topics?


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