Defining software architecture

There are various definitions of software architecture in the literature concerning the topic. A simple definition is given as follows:

Software architecture is a description of the subsystems or components of a software system, and the relationships between them.

The following is a more formal definition, from the Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems (IEEE) technology:

"Architecture is the fundamental organization of a system embodied in its components, their relationships to each other, and to the environment, and the principles guiding its design and evolution."

It is possible to get umpteen such definitions of software architecture if one spends some time searching on the web. The wordings might differ, but all the definitions refer to some core, fundamental aspects underlying software architecture.

Software architecture versus design

In the experience of the author, this question of the software architecture of a system versus its design seems to pop up quite often, in both online as well as offline forums. Hence, let us take a moment to understand this aspect.

Though both terms are often used interchangeably, the rough distinction of architecture versus design can be summarized as follows:

• Architecture covers the higher level structures and interactions in a system. It is concerned with those questions that entail decision making about the skeleton of the system, involving not only its functional but also its organizational, technical, business, and quality attributes.
• Design is all about the organization of parts or components of the system and the subsystems involved in making the system. The problems here are typically closer to the code or modules in question, such as these:
  • Which modules to split code into? How to organize them?
  • Which classes (or modules) to assign the different functionalities to?
  • Which design pattern should I use for class "C"?
  • How do my objects interact at runtime? What are the messages passed, and how is the interaction organized?

Software architecture is about the design of the entire system, whereas, software design is mostly about the details, typically at the implementation level of the various subsystems and components that make up those subsystems.

In other words, the word design comes up in both contexts, however, with the distinction that the former is at a much higher abstraction and at a larger scope than the latter.

There is a rich body of knowledge available for both software architecture and design, namely, architectural patterns and design patterns respectively. We will discuss both these topics in later chapters of this book.

Aspects of software architecture

In both the formal IEEE definition and the rather informal definition given earlier, we find some common, recurring themes. It is important to understand them in order to take our discussion on software architecture further:

• System: A system is a collection of components organized in specific ways to achieve a specific functionality. A software system is a collection of such software components. A system can often be subgrouped into subsystems.
• Structure: A structure is a set of elements that are grouped or organized together according to a guiding rule or principle. The elements can be software or hardware systems. A software architecture can exhibit various levels of structures depending on the observer's context.
• Environment: The environment is the context or circumstances in which a software system is built, which has a direct influence on its architecture. Such contexts can be technical, business, professional, operational, and so on.
• Stakeholder: A stakeholder is a person or groups of persons, who has an interest or concern in the system and its success. Examples of stakeholders are the architect, development team, customer, project manager, marketing team, and others.

Now that you have understood some of the core aspects of software architecture, let us briefly list some of its characteristics.