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Questions and Answers
What is software architecture?
What is software architecture?
What is the role of a software architect?
What is the role of a software architect?
What are the four core activities in software architecture design?
What are the four core activities in software architecture design?
What is the difference between architectural and detailed design?
What is the difference between architectural and detailed design?
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What is software architecture erosion?
What is software architecture erosion?
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What is an architectural pattern?
What is an architectural pattern?
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What is the purpose of documenting software architecture?
What is the purpose of documenting software architecture?
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What is the Locality Criterion?
What is the Locality Criterion?
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What is the difference between software architecture and requirements engineering?
What is the difference between software architecture and requirements engineering?
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Study Notes
High Level Structures of a Software System
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Software architecture is the set of structures needed to reason about a software system and the discipline of creating such structures and systems.
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The architecture of a software system is a metaphor, analogous to the architecture of a building.
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Software architecture choices include specific structural options from possibilities in the design of the software.
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Documenting software architecture facilitates communication between stakeholders, captures early decisions about the high-level design, and allows reuse of design components between projects.
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Software architecture exhibits characteristics such as multitude of stakeholders, separation of concerns, quality-driven, recurring styles, conceptual integrity, and cognitive constraints.
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Software architecture is an "intellectually graspable" abstraction of a complex system.
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Software architecture as a concept has its origins in the research of Edsger Dijkstra in 1968 and David Parnas in the early 1970s.
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There are four core activities in software architecture design: architectural analysis, architectural synthesis or design, architecture evaluation, and architecture evolution.
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Software architecture supporting activities are carried out during core software architecture activities.
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Software architecture description involves the principles and practices of modeling and representing architectures, using mechanisms such as architecture description languages, architecture viewpoints, and architecture frameworks.
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An architectural pattern is a general, reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem in software architecture within a given context.
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Software architecture erosion (or "decay") refers to the gap observed between the planned and actual architecture of a software system as realized in its implementation.Software Architecture: Definition, Importance, and Types
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The role of the software architect is to design the structure of the software, including high-level components and how they interact.
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Software architecture is the process of designing the structure of a software system, including its components, their interactions, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.
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The distinction between architectural and detailed design is defined by the Locality Criterion, according to which a statement about software design is non-local (architectural) if and only if a program that satisfies it can be expanded into a program that does not.
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Requirements engineering and software architecture can be seen as complementary approaches: while software architecture targets the 'solution space' or the 'how', requirements engineering addresses the 'problem space' or the 'what'.
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There is considerable overlap between requirements engineering and software architecture, as evidenced for example by a study into five industrial software architecture methods.
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Approaches such as the Twin Peaks model aim to exploit the synergistic relation between requirements and architecture.
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Other types of software architecture include enterprise architecture, solution architecture, and system architecture.
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Enterprise architecture focuses on the overall IT strategy of an organization.
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Solution architecture is concerned with designing solutions to specific problems or challenges.
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System architecture is concerned with the structure and behavior of a particular system.
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The importance of software architecture lies in its ability to provide a blueprint for software development, allowing for better communication, collaboration, and decision-making among stakeholders.
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Good software architecture can lead to improved system performance, scalability, and maintainability, as well as reduced costs and risks.
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Description
Test your knowledge on the high-level structures of software systems with this informative quiz! Learn about the importance of software architecture, the different types of software architecture, and the core activities involved in software architecture design. Discover the key characteristics of software architecture, the role of the software architect, and the principles and practices of modeling and representing architectures. This quiz is perfect for those interested in software development, architecture, or anyone looking to expand their knowledge on this important topic.