Architectures

in Context

Software Architecture
Lecture 2

Copyright Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy. All rights reserved.
Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Fundamental Understanding

Architecture is a set of principal design decisions about a

software system
Three fundamental understandings of software
architecture
Every application has an architecture

Every application has at least one architect

Architecture is not a phase of development

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Wrong View: Architecture as a

Phase

Treating architecture as a phase denies its

foundational role in software development
More than high-level design

Architecture is also represented, e.g., by object code,

source code,

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Context of Software Architecture

Requirements
Design
Implementation
Analysis and Testing
Evolution
Development Process

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Requirements Analysis

Traditional SE suggests requirements analysis should

remain unsullied by any consideration for a design
However, without reference to existing architectures it
becomes difficult to assess practicality, schedules, or
costs
In building architecture we talk about specific rooms
rather than the abstract concept means for
providing shelter
In engineering new products come from the observation
of existing solution and their limitations

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

New Perspective on Requirements

Analysis
Existing designs and architectures provide the solution
vocabulary
Our understanding of what works now, and how it
works, affects our wants and perceived needs
The insights from our experiences with existing systems
helps us imagine what might work and

enables us to assess development time and costs

Requirements analysis and consideration of design

must be pursued at the same time

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Non-Functional Properties (NFP)

NFPs are the result of architectural choices

NFP questions are raised as the result of architectural
choices
Specification of NFP might require an architectural
framework to even enable their statement
An architectural framework will be required for
assessment of whether the properties are achievable

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

The Twin Peaks Model

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Design and Architecture

Design is an activity that pervades software development

It is an activity that creates part of a systems architecture
Typically in the traditional Design Phase decisions concern
A systems structure

Identification of its primary components

Their interconnections

Architecture denotes the set of principal design decisions

about a system
That is more than just structure

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Architecture-Centric Design

Traditional design phase suggests translating the

requirements into algorithms, so a programmer can
implement them
Architecture-centric design
stakeholder issues

decision about use of COTS component

overarching style and structure

package and primary class structure

deployment issues

post implementation/deployment issues

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Design Techniques

Basic conceptual tools

Separation of concerns

Abstraction

Modularity

Two illustrative widely adapted strategies

Object-oriented design

Domain-specific software architectures (DSSA)

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Object-Oriented Design (OOD)

Objects
Main abstraction entity in OOD

Encapsulations of state with functions for accessing

and manipulating that state

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Pros and Cons of OOD

Pros
UML modeling notation
Design patterns
Cons
Provides only
One level of encapsulation (the object)
One notion of interface
One type of explicit connector (procedure call)
Even message passing is realized via procedure calls
OO programming language might dictate important design
decisions
OOD assumes a shared address space
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

DSSA

Capturing and characterizing the best solutions and best

practices from past projects within a domain
Production of new applications can focus on the points
of novel variation
Reuse applicable parts of the architecture and
implementation
Applicable for product lines
Recall the Philips Koala example discussed in the
previous lecture

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Implementation

The objective is to create machine-executable source

code
That code should be faithful to the architecture

Alternatively, it may adapt the architecture

How much adaptation is allowed?
Architecturally-relevant vs. -unimportant
adaptations
It must fully develop all outstanding details of the
application

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Faithful Implementation

All of the structural elements found in the architecture

are implemented in the source code
Source code must not utilize major new computational
elements that have no corresponding elements in the
architecture
Source code must not contain new connections between
architectural elements that are not found in the
architecture
Is this realistic?
Overly constraining?
What if we deviate from this?
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Unfaithful Implementation

The implementation does have an architecture

It is latent, as opposed to what is documented.
Failure to recognize the distinction between planned and
implemented architecture
robs one of the ability to reason about the
applications architecture in the future
misleads all stakeholders regarding what they believe
they have as opposed to what they really have
makes any development or evolution strategy that is
based on the documented (but inaccurate)
architecture doomed to failure
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Implementation Strategies

Generative techniques
e.g. parser generators

Frameworks
collections of source code with identified places
where the engineer must fill in the blanks
Middleware
CORBA, DCOM, RPC,

Reuse-based techniques
COTS, open-source, in-house

Writing all code manually

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 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

How It All
Fits
Together

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Analysis and Testing

Analysis and testing are activities undertaken to assess

the qualities of an artifact
The earlier an error is detected and corrected the lower
the aggregate cost
Rigorous representations are required for analysis, so
precise questions can be asked and answered

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Analysis of Architectural Models

Formal architectural model can be examined for internal

consistency and correctness
An analysis on a formal model can reveal
Component mismatch

Incomplete specifications

Undesired communication patterns

Deadlocks

Security flaws

It can be used for size and development time

estimations
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Analysis of Architectural Models

(contd)
Architectural model
may be examined for consistency with requirements

may be used in determining analysis and testing

strategies for source code
may be used to check if an implementation is faithful

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Evolution and Maintenance

All activities that chronologically follow the release of an

application
Software will evolve
Regardless of whether one is using an
architecture-centric development process or not
The traditional software engineering approach to maintenance
is largely ad hoc
Risk of architectural decay and overall quality degradation

Architecture-centric approach
Sustained focus on an explicit, substantive, modifiable,
faithful architectural model
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Architecture-Centric Evolution
Process
Motivation
Evaluation or assessment
Design and choice of approach
Action
includes preparation for the next round of adaptation

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Processes

Traditional software process discussions make the

process activities the focal point
In architecture-centric software engineering the product
becomes the focal point
No single right software process for architecture-
centric software engineering exists

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Turbine A New Visualization

Model
Goals of the visualization
Provide an intuitive sense of
Project activities at any given time
Including concurrency of types of development activities
The information space of the project
Show centrality of the products
(Hopefully) Growing body of artifacts
Allow for the centrality of architecture
But work equally well for other approaches,
including dysfunctional ones
Effective for indicating time, gaps, duration of activities
Investment (cost) indicators

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

The Turbine Model

time
Core of project
artifacts Testing
Gap between rotors
indicates no project
activity for that t

Coding
Radius of rotor indicates
level of staffing at time t

ti Design

Simplistic Waterfall, Requirements

Side perspective 27

Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Cross-section at time ti
Design
(activity)

Requirements

Design
doc

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

The Turbine Model

time

Waterfall example,
Angled perspective

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

A Richer Example

Assess/ time

Test/Build/
Deploy

Build/Design/
Requirements/Test

Design/Build/
Requirements S1

Requirements/Architecture
assessment/Planning
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

A Sample Cross-Section

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

A Cross-Section at Project End

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Volume Indicates Where Time was

Spent
Assess/

Test/Build/
Deploy

Build/Design/
Requirements/Test

Design/Build/
Requirements

Requirements/
Architecture Assessment / Planning
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
 Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

A Technically Strong Product-Line

Project

Deployment
Capture of new work
Other

Parameterization
Customization

Assessment

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice; Richard N. Taylor, Nenad Medvidovic, and Eric M. Dashofy; 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Visualization Summary

It is illustrative, not prescriptive

It is an aid to thinking about whats going on in a project
Can be automatically generated based on input of
monitored project data
Can be extended to illustrate development of the
information space (artifacts)
The preceding slides have focused primarily on the
development activities

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Processes Possible in this Model

Traditional, straight-line waterfall

Architecture-centric development
DSSA-based project
Agile development
Dysfunctional process

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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Summary (1)

A proper view of software architecture affects every

aspect of the classical software engineering activities
The requirements activity is a co-equal partner with
design activities
The design activity is enriched by techniques that exploit
knowledge gained in previous product developments
The implementation activity
is centered on creating a faithful implementation of
the architecture
utilizes a variety of techniques to achieve this in a
cost-effective manner
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Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice

Summary (2)

Analysis and testing activities can be focused on and

guided by the architecture
Evolution activities revolve around the products
architecture.
An equal focus on process and product results from a
proper understanding of the role of software architecture

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