Paul Clements

Len Bass

Robert Nord

Judith Stafford

David Garlan

Felix Bachmann

James Ivers

Reed Little

Architecture is crucial to the success of any large software system -- but even a superb architecture will fail if it isn't communicated well. Now, there's a language- and notation-independent guide to capturing architecture so it can be used successfully by every analyst, software designer, and developer. The authors review the diverse goals and uses of software architecture documentation, providing documentation strategies for several common scenarios. They identify the basic unit of software architecture documentation: the viewtype, which specifies the type of information to be provided in an architectural view. For each viewtype -- Modules, Component-and-Connectors, and Allocation -- they offer detailed guidance on documenting what really matters. Next, they demonstrate how to package architecture documentation in coherent, usable form: augmenting architectural views with documentation of interfaces and behavior; accounting for architectural variability and dynamic systems; and more.

Views and Beyond

Documenting Software Architectures

Mark Klein

John D. McGregor

Philip Bianco

CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INST.

Abstract: "The Architecture Expert (ArchE) tool serves as a software architecture design assistant. It embodies knowledge of quality attributes and the relation between the achievement of quality attribute requirements and architecture design. This technical note describes the use of a pre-alpha release of ArchE in a graduate-level software architecture class at Clemson University. ArchE was used to assist the students in the architecting process. The tool was then evaluated by the students and instructor. The instructor felt that ArchE met his objectives as a pedagogical tool. The students, although critical of the pre-alpha status of ArchE, were enthusiastic about the benefits of having the step-by-step guide to the architect's designing process as provided by ArchE."

One Experience

Using ArchE in the Classroom

Paulo Merson

Software architecture—the conceptual glue that holds every phase of a project together for its many stakeholders—is widely recognized as a critical element in modern software development. Practitioners have increasingly discovered that close attention to a software system’s architecture pays valuable dividends. Without an architecture that is appropriate for the problem being solved, a project will stumble along or, most likely, fail. Even with a superb architecture, if that architecture is not well understood or well communicated the project is unlikely to succeed. Documenting Software Architectures, Second Edition, provides the most complete and current guidance, independent of language or notation, on how to capture an architecture in a commonly understandable form. Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors first help you decide what information to document, and then, with guidelines and examples (in various notations, including UML), show you how to express an architecture so that others can successfully build, use, and maintain a system from it. The book features rules for sound documentation, the goals and strategies of documentation, architectural views and styles, documentation for software interfaces and software behavior, and templates for capturing and organizing information to generate a coherent package. New and improved in this second edition: Coverage of architectural styles such as service-oriented architectures, multi-tier architectures, and data models Guidance for documentation in an Agile development environment Deeper treatment of documentation of rationale, reflecting best industrial practices Improved templates, reflecting years of use and feedback, and more documentation layout options A new, comprehensive example (available online), featuring documentation of a Web-based service-oriented system Reference guides for three important architecture documentation languages: UML, AADL, and SySML

Felix Bachmann

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