Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond

Paul Clements

Jan 2003 · Addison-Wesley Professional

About this ebook

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.

About the author

Paul Clements is a senior member of the technical staff at the SEI, where he works on software architecture and product line engineering. He is the author of five books and more than three dozen papers on these and other topics. Len Bass is a senior member of the technical staff at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). He has written or edited five books and numerous papers on software engineering and other topics. He has extensive experience in architecting real-world development projects. Robert L. Nord, a member of the software architecture program at SCR, designs and evaluates software architectures for large-scale industrial systems. Dr. Nord, currently the Siemens industrial resident affiliate at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in Pittsburgh, is working on methods for architecture trade-off analysis and product-line practices. His other interests include transitioning software design practices, improving architecture practices using software architecture improvement groups, and architecture-based development. 0201703726AB01162003