bookshelf Software Architecture : A Maturing Discipline

I spend a lot of time talking and simultaneously smudging up dry-erase boards. Much of this time, I’m drawing software architectures of one flavor or another (there appear to be more than “4+1” flavors possible, as David Parnas would likely agree). The abstractions inherent to this field seem to require tangible representation, just so listeners can follow the ideas. Looking at the audience as I speak, I often see them begin to understand a concept when I draw, but I see this happen less often when I just talk. Software architecture is a relatively new discipline, and it doesn’t seem to have settled into our collective psyche quite yet. Design & Use of Software Architectures is a valuable contribution to the still-maturing field of software architecture and component development. Recent similar works have defined software architecture (The Art of Systems Architecting by Mark Maier and Eberhardt Rechtin), addressed it in a business or technical context (Software Architecture in Practice by Len Bass, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman), and introduced the Zen of it (Software Architect Bootcamp by Raphael Malveau and Thomas Mowbray). The IEEE recently published its architectural standard 1471 titled IEEE Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of SoftwareIntensive Systems. Many other current works address component development “in the small” (Corba and DCOM, for instance), whereas this book tackles component development and reuse at the macro level. It elaborates on the excellent treatment of component-based development and product-line practice given in Software Architecture in Practice.