Nothing Is Permanent Except Change

Posted on 2015-04-09 by Michael Schneider

Architects have the problem that they need to constantly deal with change. Change happens. That’s a fact. πάντα ῥεῖ (panta rhei) as the Greek philosopher Heraklitus supposedly said. So you’ll have to deal with it. How? Well, Michael Stal provided a nice presentation on this topic in 2012. You can find a link to his blog on the references page.

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It’s all about testing…

Posted on 2015-04-08 by Michael Schneider

There can be no proper development without proper validation. So testing is one of the most important tasks during development. And that includes the architecture. Not only must the architect ensure proper testing, (s)he also needs to validate the correct realization of the architecture design. I will get into detail on some of the tasks the architect needs to take care of later. At this point I would just like to point out that test consideration has to start from the beginning of architecture design and must continue all the way throughout development to integration.
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What is architecture?

Posted on 2015-04-03 by Michael Schneider

So, what is the definition of software architecture? Well, there are multiple definitions out there. Some of them useful, some of them not. But in my mind the most accurate one is from Grady Booch:

All architecture is design but not all design is architecture. Architecture represents the significant design decisions that shape a system, where significant is measured by cost of change.

This definition outlines the most important issue an architect has to deal with – making decisions. Architecture decisions are strategic decisions with a heavy impact. If you decide wrong, the cost to fix that decision later will be high. It is like when you build a house – you can decide to build it with or without a basement. But once you started building your house, changing the decision will cause significant cost.
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The Start…

Posted on 2015-04-03 by Michael Schneider

This is the first entry of my new blog on software (and system) architecture. Let’s see what the future will bring. If you would like certain topics to be addressed, feel free to contact me. Thanks!

In case you wonder about the name of the blog, it is based on a famous quote by Philip Johnson:

Architecture is the art of how to waste space.

By the way, you can find interesting references on my reference page.

The image at the top I took in the atrium of the Grand Hyatt hotel inside the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai. It clearly shows how beautiful architecture can be.

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