An Investigation of a Method for Identifying a Software Architecture Candidate with Respect to Quality Attributes

Authors: Mikael Svahnberg¹; Claes Wohlin²

Source: Empirical Software Engineering, Volume 10, Number 2, April 2005 , pp. 149-181(33)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

To sustain the qualities of a software system during evolution, and to adapt the quality attributes as the requirements evolve, it is necessary to have a clear software architecture that is understood by all developers and to which all changes to the system adheres. This software architecture can be created beforehand, but must also be updated to reflect changes in the domain, and hence the requirements of the software. The choice of which software architecture to use is typically based on informal decisions. There exist, to the best of our knowledge, little factual knowledge of which quality attributes are supported or obstructed by different architecture approaches. In this paper we present an empirical study of a method that enables quantification of the perceived support different software architectures give for different quality attributes. This in turn enables an informed decision of which architecture candidate best fit the mixture of quality attributes required by a system being designed.

Keywords: Software architectures; quality attributes; analytic hierarchy process

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10664-004-6190-y

Affiliations: 1: Department of Software Engineering and Computer Science, Blekinge Institute of Technology, PO Box 520, 372 25, Ronneby, Sweden, Email: mikael.svahnberg@bth.se 2: Department of Software Engineering and Computer Science, Blekinge Institute of Technology, PO Box 520, 372 25, Ronneby, Sweden, Email: Claes.Wohlin@bth.se

Publication date: 2005-04-01