Editing Software architecture (section)

{{short description|High level structures of a software system}}
{{Software development process}}
'''Software architecture''' is the set of structures needed to reason about a [[software system]] and the discipline of creating such structures and systems. Each structure comprises software elements, relations among them, and properties of both elements and relations.<ref name="DSA2">{{cite book |last=Clements |first=Paul |title=Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond, Second Edition |author2=Felix Bachmann |author3=Len Bass |author4=David Garlan |author5=James Ivers |author6=Reed Little |author7=Paulo Merson |author8=Robert Nord |author9=Judith Stafford |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-321-55268-6 |location=Boston |language=en-US |author3-link=Len Bass}}</ref>

The ''architecture'' of a software system is a [[metaphor]], analogous to the [[architecture]] of a building.<ref name="PERRY1992">{{Cite journal | last1 = Perry | first1 = D. E. | last2 = Wolf | first2 = A. L. | author-link2 = Alexander L. Wolf| doi = 10.1145/141874.141884 | title = Foundations for the study of software architecture | journal = [[ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes]]| volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 40 | year = 1992 | url = http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~perry/work/papers/swa-sen.pdf| citeseerx = 10.1.1.40.5174 | s2cid = 628695 }}</ref> It functions as the blueprints for the system and the development project, which [[project management]] can later use to extrapolate the tasks necessary to be executed by the teams and people involved.

Software architecture is about making fundamental structural choices that are costly to change once implemented. Software architecture choices include specific structural options from possibilities in [[Software design|the design of the software]]. There are two fundamental laws in software architecture:<ref>{{Cite book |title=Head First Software Architecture |publisher=O'Reilly Media |year=2024 |isbn=978-1098134358}}</ref><ref name="O'Reilly Media">{{Cite book |title=Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach |publisher=O'Reilly Media |year=2020 |isbn=978-1492043454}}</ref>

# Everything is a trade-off
# "Why is more important than how"

"Architectural Kata" is a teamwork which can be used to produce an architectural solution that fits the needs.  Each team extracts and prioritizes architectural characteristics (aka [[Non-functional requirement|non functional requirements]]) then models the components accordingly. The team can use [[C4 model|C4 Model]] which is a flexible method to model the architecture just enough. Note that synchronous communication between architectural components, entangles them and they must share the same architectural characteristics. <ref name="O'Reilly Media" />

[[Software documentation|Documenting software]] architecture facilitates communication between [[Stakeholder (corporate)#In management|stakeholders]], captures early decisions about the high-level design, and allows the reuse of design components between projects.<ref name="SAP2">{{cite book|last=Bass|first=Len|author2=Paul Clements |author3=Rick Kazman |title=Software Architecture in Practice, Third Edition|publisher = Addison-Wesley|year=2012|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-321-81573-6}}</ref>{{rp|29–35}}

Software architecture design is commonly juxtaposed with [[software application design]]. Whilst application design focuses on the design of the processes and data supporting the required functionality (the services offered by the system), software architecture design focuses on designing the infrastructure within which application functionality can be realized and executed such that the functionality is provided in a way which meets the system's [[non-functional requirement]]s.

Software architectures can be categorized into two main types: [[Monolithic application|monolith]] and [[Distributed computing|distributed architecture]], each having its own subcategories.<ref name="O'Reilly Media"/>

Software architecture tends to become more complex over time. [[Software architect]]s should use "[[fitness function]]s" to [[Continuous design|continuously]] keep the architecture in check.<ref name="O'Reilly Media"/>

[[File:Software Architecture Activities.jpg|thumb|Software architecture activities]]