Architecture evaluation
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Architecture evaluation methods help assess an architecture's ability to meet quality goals like usability, reliability and performance. The Software Architecture Analysis Method (SAAM) uses scenarios to evaluate an architecture. SAAM involves stakeholders developing prioritized scenarios, describing the architecture, classifying scenarios, performing scenario evaluations, and generating an overall assessment. Scenarios can be direct, testing current functionality, or indirect, requiring changes to assess modification difficulty. SAAM identifies issues like many scenarios affecting the same components. Architecture evaluations are beneficial early in development to surface tradeoffs and risks.
![Architecture
What is an architecture?
• The software architecture of a program or computing system is the
structure or structures of the system, which comprises of software
components, the externally visible properties of those components, and
the relationships among them. [Bass 98]
• Architecture is high-level design
• Architecture is the overall structure of a system
• Architecture is components and connectors](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/arcvalidation4slideshare-130403035751-phpapp02/85/Architecture-evaluation-3-320.jpg)
Architecture evaluation
- 1. Architecture Evaluation Methods Presenter: Alexandru Chica
- 2. Contents Architecture • What is an architecture? • Quality attributes of an architecture Evaluating an architecture •Why evaluate an architecture? •Benefits and costs •Different approaches: o SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) o ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) (tbd.) o ARID (Active reviews for intermediate designs) (tbd.)
- 3. Architecture What is an architecture? • The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprises of software components, the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships among them. [Bass 98] • Architecture is high-level design • Architecture is the overall structure of a system • Architecture is components and connectors
- 4. What is an architecture? Architecture
- 5. Architecture Quality attributes of an architecture (I) • Usability - the measure of a user's ability to utilize a system effectively • Functionality - the ability of the system to do the work for which it was intended • Modifiability - the ability to make changes to a system quickly and cost effectively • Subsetability • Reliability - the ability of the system to keep operating over time
- 6. Architecture Quality attributes of an architecture (II) • Conceptual integrity – the architecture should do similar things in similar ways • Performance - the responsiveness of the system • Availability – the proportion of time the system is up and running (the delay between failures and time needed to resume normal operations) • Testability • Security
- 7. Evaluating an architecture Why evaluate an architecture? • The earlier you find a problem in a SW project, the better off you are (the cost to fix an error in early design phase is much smaller than the cost to fix the same error in implementation/testing) • Architecture is the earliest point in the project where trade-offs are visible • Architecture determines the structure of the project: schedules, budgets, performance indicators, team structure, testing and maintenance activities • Risk management
- 8. Evaluating an architecture Benefits and costs • (+) Forces clear explanation of architecture • (+) Puts stakeholders in the same room • (+) Identifies and solves conflicting goals • (+) Forces clarification of specific quality goals • (+) Identifies risks early in the lifecycle • (-) Costs time and money Any kind of organized approach to evaluation is way better than none
- 9. Evaluating an architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) o Based on scenarios A scenario represents a description of a stakeholder’s interaction with the system o Scenarios are created depending on the point of view of each stakeholder: o Developer – interested in reusability, implementation, maintenance o Project Manager – interested in time, cost, quality, extensibility o Tester – interested in usability, mapping to requirements
- 10. Evaluating an architecture Steps of a SAAM evaluation Identify and assemble stakeholders ↓ Develop and prioritize scenarios ↓ Describe architecture (actual review) ↓ Classify scenarios as direct or indirect ↓ Perform scenario evaluation ↓ Reveal scenario interactions ↓ Generate overall evaluation
- 11. Evaluating an architecture SAAM scenarios • Scenarios should refer to the evolution that the system must support (based on requirements) o Functionality o Development activities o Change activities • Scenarios should represent tasks relevant to all stakeholders • Suggestion: 10-15 prioritized scenarios • Scenarios can be classified in two classes o Direct scenarios do not require system modifications o Indirect scenarios require system change
- 12. Evaluating an architecture SAAM scenario evaluation • For each direct scenario, see if scenario can be performed with current system state • For each indirect scenario o Identify the components which have to be modified, added or deleted o Estimate the difficulty of the modification (based on the number of components to be modified and the effect of the modification)
- 13. Evaluating an architecture SAAM scenario interaction • Multiple indirect scenarios affecting the same component could indicate a problem o Could be good: if scenarios are variants of each other o Could be bad: indicates a poor separation of responsibilities SAAM Evaluation Results • Classification of scenarios based on importance • Decision if architecture is accepted or has to be modified
- 14. Evaluating an architecture Examples • Indirect scenarios: • Extension of capabilities – adding new functionality, enhancing existing functionality • Deletion of unwanted capabilities • Adaption to new operating environments (hardware, OS, I/O devices) • Restructuring – modularizing, optimizing, creating reusable components
- 15. Evaluating an architecture Examples • Direct scenarios • Confronting the architecture with regular use cases • Use logic that is provided by the interfaces • Stress testing – behavior of components in case of intensive usage • Corruption of data/components after long-term usage • Data integrity when sending it through communication channels • Scenarios regarding functionality found in the requirements • Ease of test – how easy is it to test a requirement
- 16. Evaluating an architecture Conclusion Any kind of organized approach to evaluation is way better than none. SAAM