P.7. Summary Checklist

  • The goal of documenting an architecture is to write it down so that others can successfully use it, maintain it, and build a system from it.
  • Documentation exists to further architecture's uses as a means of education, as a vehicle for communication among stakeholders, and as the basis for analysis.
  • Documenting an architecture is a matter of documenting the relevant views and then adding documentation that applies to more than one view.
  • The module viewtype helps architects think about their software as a set of implementation units. The component-and-connector viewtype helps architects think about their software as a set of elements that have runtime behavior and interactions. The allocation viewtype helps architects think about how their software relates to the nonsoftware structures in its environment.
  • A viewtype constrains the set of elements and relations that exist in its views. An architectural style is a specialization of a viewtype's elements and relationships, together with a set of constraints on how they can be used. A style defines a family of architectures that satisfy the constraints.
  • Some styles are applicable in every software system: decomposition, uses, deployment, and work assignment, for example. Other styles occur only in systems in which they were explicitly chosen and designed in by the architect: layered, communicating-processes, and client-server, for example.
  • Follow the seven rules for sound documentation. Some styles are applicable to every system; others apply only to those for which they were chosen and architected in. And even styles that apply to every system will not always be documented.

    - Write documentation from the point of view of the reader, not the writer.

    - Avoid unnecessary repetition.

    - Avoid ambiguity. Always explain your notation.

    - Use a standard organization.

    - Record rationale.

    - Keep documentation current but not too current.

    - Review documentation for fitness of purpose.

  • There are many views on views. See Chapter 11 for a discussion of how the views described in this book relate to the others.
  • Use arrows carefully. Always say what they mean.

Software Architectures and Documentation

Part I. Software Architecture Viewtypes and Styles

The Module Viewtype

Styles of the Module Viewtype

The Component-and-Connector Viewtype

Styles of the Component-and-Connector Viewtype

The Allocation Viewtype and Styles

Part II. Software Architecture Documentation in Practice

Advanced Concepts

Documenting Software Interfaces

Documenting Behavior

Choosing the Views

Building the Documentation Package

Other Views and Beyond

Rationale, Background, and Design Constraints

References



Documenting Software Architectures(c) Views and Beyond
Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond
ISBN: 0201703726
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 152

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