Identify architectural goals
Describe the goals of the architecture by examing the project Vision and other requirements products; and talking to the project Stakeholder(s) and Analyst(s). These
will motivate the approach taken to important architecture and design decisions. |
Identify architectural constraints
List any constraints on the solution (or possibly opportunities) that arise from the existing environment or
organisation.
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Survey, assess and select from available assets
Establish the availability of suitable candidates for re-use from the existing software estate.
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Define approach for structuring the system
Define the layering strategy for the software architecture. The architect will
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Decide how many layers will be used.
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Identify their names and purpose.
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Descibe their relationships to one another.
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Identify key abstractions
Identify key concepts that the system should handle. These are usually found by looking for important nouns in the
requirements, that describe things that are important to the business.
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Identify analysis mechanisms
Catalogue the architecture mechanisms needed to support the requirements (see Architecture Mechanism). These will be expressed as Analysis Mechanisms at this point in the process, due to the relatively small
amount of detail required against each mechanism.
Map each mechanism to one or more use cases. This will how the mechanisms are used to support the requirements and
assist in the prioritisation of the development of the mechanisms.
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Capture architectural decisions
Keep a log of important decisions for future reference.
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