Software Architecture Testing

CT059-3-2

Introduction to software
architectures
 Topic & Structure of the lesson

• Defining software architecture

• Alternate thoughts on software architecture
• Why software architecture matters?

CT059-3.5-3 Software Architecture Testing Introduction to Software Architectures Slide 2 (out of 14)
 Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this lecture, YOU should be

able to :
– Define software architecture and
alternative thoughts on software
architecture
– Explain why it matters to stakeholder

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 Key Terms you must be able to use

• If you have mastered this topic, you should

be able to use the following terms correctly
in your assignments and exams:
– Software architecture
– Dependencies
– Human motivation
– Longevity
– Social structure

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 Why Software Architecture?

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 Architecting a huts

To build
• Need less people
• Basic modeling
• Less technology
• Simple task & tools

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 Architecting a high rise

To build
• Need expert team
• Expensive
• Sophisticated models
• New technologies
• Defined and proven process

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 So what?
• Different project need different resources and skills such as
• People
• Process
• Technology
• Management
• Users
• Money

BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

“MODEL” Or
“ARCHITECTURE”
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 What is Software Architecture?
Some Definitions

• Software architecture is the fundamental organization of a system,

embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and
the environment, and the principles governing its design and
evolution
- IEEE 1471-2000

• “The software architecture of a program or computing system is the

structure or structures of the system, which comprise software
elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and
the relationships among them.”
Software Architecture in Practice (2nd edition),
(Bass, Clements, Kazman; Addison-Wesley 2003:

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 Few More

• Perry and Wolf, 1992

– A set of architectural (or design) elements that have a particular form
• Boehm et al., 1995
– A software system architecture comprises
• A collection of software and system components, connections, and constraints
• A collection of system stakeholders' need statements
• A rationale which demonstrates that the components, connections, and constraints
define a system that, if implemented, would satisfy the collection of system
stakeholders' need statements
• Clements et al., 1997
– The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or
structures of the system, which comprise software components, the externally visible
properties of those components, and the relationships among them

http://www.sei.edu/architecture/definitions.html
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 Quick Review Question

• What could happen if a system was

developed without an architecture?

Use real world examples (or your own

experiences) to present your answer

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 Alternate thoughts on software
architecture
• Consider human and business issues
– Designed to manage dependencies
– Designed according to human motivations and desires
– System satisfaction
• Architecture represents the set of earliest design decisions
– Hardest to change
– Most critical to get right
• Architecture is the first design artifact where a system’s quality
attributes are addressed

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 Architecture Serves

• As the blueprint for the system but also the project:

– Team structure
– Documentation organization
– Work breakdown structure
– Scheduling, planning, budgeting
– Unit testing, integration
• Architecture establishes the communication and
coordination mechanisms among components

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 Why Software Architecture
Matters
• Longevity
– System’s life can be improved
• Stability
– To ensure a minimum fundamental rework
– Provide important foundation for development team
• Degree and Nature of change
– Determine the nature of change within the system
– Easy to make change without much rework
• Profitability
– Create architecture that can sustain it with acceptable cost structure
• Social structure
– It influence the developer (no matter what language used)
• Boundaries defined
– Help the client and developer to have mutual understanding

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 Summary of Main Teaching Points

• Defining software architecture

• Alternate thoughts on software
architecture
• Why software architecture matters?

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 Question and Answer Session

Q&A

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 Next Session

• Creating an architecture
• Patterns and architecture

CT059-3.5-3 Software Architecture Testing Introduction to Software Architectures Slide 15 (of 15)