Chapter 6
Architectural Design
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Topics covered
Architectural design decisions
Architectural views
Architectural patterns
Application architectures
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Software architecture
The design process for identifying the sub-systems
making up a system and the framework for sub-system
control and communication is architectural design.
The output of this design process is a description of the
software architecture.
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Architectural design
An early stage of the system design process.
Represents the link between specification and design
processes.
Often carried out in parallel with some specification
activities.
It involves identifying major system components and
their communications.
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The architecture of a packing robot control
system
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Architectural abstraction
Architecture in the small is concerned with the
architecture of individual programs. At this level, we are
concerned with the way that an individual program is
decomposed into components.
Architecture in the large is concerned with the
architecture of complex enterprise systems that
include other systems, programs, and program
components. These enterprise systems are distributed
over different computers, which may be owned and
managed by different companies.
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Advantages of explicit architecture
Stakeholder communication
Architecture may be used as a focus of discussion by system
stakeholders.
System analysis
Means that analysis of whether the system can meet its non-
functional requirements is possible.
Large-scale reuse
The architecture may be reusable across a range of systems
Product-line architectures may be developed.
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Architectural representations
Simple, informal block diagrams showing entities and
relationships are the most frequently used method for
documenting software architectures.
But these have been criticized because they lack
semantics, do not show the types of relationships
between entities nor the visible properties of entities in
the architecture.
Depends on the use of architectural models. The
requirements for model semantics depends on how the
models are used.
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Box and line diagrams
Very abstract - they do not show the nature of
component relationships nor the externally visible
properties of the sub-systems.
However, useful for communication with stakeholders
and for project planning.
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Use of architectural models
As a way of facilitating discussion about the system
design
A high-level architectural view of a system is useful for
communication with system stakeholders and project planning
because it is not cluttered with detail. Stakeholders can relate to
it and understand an abstract view of the system. They can then
discuss the system as a whole without being confused by detail.
As a way of documenting an architecture that has been
designed
The aim here is to produce a complete system model that shows
the different components in a system, their interfaces and their
connections.
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Architectural design decisions
Architectural design is a creative process so the process
differs depending on the type of system being
developed.
However, a number of common decisions span all
design processes and these decisions affect the non-
functional characteristics of the system.
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Architectural design decisions
Is there a generic application architecture that can be
used?
How will the system be distributed?
What architectural styles are appropriate?
What approach will be used to structure the system?
How will the system be decomposed into modules?
What control strategy should be used?
How will the architectural design be evaluated?
How should the architecture be documented?
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Architecture reuse
Systems in the same domain often have similar
architectures that reflect domain concepts.
Application product lines are built around a core
architecture with variants that satisfy particular customer
requirements.
The architecture of a system may be designed around
one of more architectural patterns or ‘styles’.
These capture the essence of an architecture and can be
instantiated in different ways.
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Architecture and system characteristics
Performance
Localize critical operations and minimize communications. Use
large rather than fine-grain components.
Security
Use a layered architecture with critical assets in the inner layers.
Safety
Localize safety-critical features in a small number of sub-
systems.
Availability
Include redundant components and mechanisms for fault
tolerance.
Maintainability
Use fine-grain, replaceable components.
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Architectural views
What views or perspectives are useful when designing
and documenting a system’s architecture?
What notations should be used for describing
architectural models?
Each architectural model only shows one view or
perspective of the system.
It might show how a system is decomposed into modules,
how the run-time processes interact or the different ways in
which system components are distributed across a network. For
both design and documentation, you usually need to present
multiple views of the software architecture.
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4 + 1 view model of software architecture
A logical view, which shows the key abstractions in the
system as objects or object classes.
A process view, which shows how, at run-time, the
system is composed of interacting processes.
A development view, which shows how the software is
decomposed for development.
A physical view, which shows the system hardware and
how software components are distributed across the
processors in the system.
Related using use cases or scenarios (+1)
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Architectural patterns
Patterns are a means of representing, sharing and
reusing knowledge.
An architectural pattern is a stylized description of
good design practice, which has been tried and tested
in different environments.
Patterns should include information about when they
are and when they are not useful.
Patterns may be represented using tabular and
graphical descriptions.
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The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern
Name MVC (Model-View-Controller)
Description Separates presentation and interaction from the system data. The system
is structured into three logical components that interact with each other.
The Model component manages the system data and associated
operations on that data. The View component defines and manages
how the data is presented to the user. The Controller component
manages user interaction (e.g., key presses, mouse clicks, etc.) and
passes these interactions to the View and the Model.
Example Figure 6.4 shows the architecture of a web-based application system
organized using the MVC pattern.
When used Used when there are multiple ways to view and interact with data. Also
used when the future requirements for interaction and presentation of
data are unknown.
Advantages Allows the data to change independently of its representation and vice
versa. Supports presentation of the same data in different ways with
changes made in one representation shown in all of them.
Disadvantages Can involve additional code and code complexity when the data model and
interactions are simple.
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The organization of the Model-View-Controller
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Web application architecture using the MVC
pattern
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Layered architecture
Used to model the interfacing of sub-systems.
Organises the system into a set of layers (or abstract
machines) each of which provide a set of services.
Supports the incremental development of sub-
systems in different layers. When a layer interface
changes, only the adjacent layer is affected.
However, often artificial to structure systems in this way.
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The Layered architecture pattern
Name Layered architecture
Description Organizes the system into layers with related functionality associated
with each layer. A layer provides services to the layer above it so the
lowest-level layers represent core services that are likely to be used
throughout the system.
Example A layered model of a system for sharing copyright documents held in
different libraries, as shown in Figure 6.7.
When used Used when building new facilities on top of existing systems; when
the development is spread across several teams with each team
responsibility for a layer of functionality; when there is a requirement
for multi-level security.
Advantages Allows replacement of entire layers so long as the interface is
maintained. Redundant facilities (e.g., authentication) can be provided in
each layer to increase the dependability of the system.
Disadvantages In practice, providing a clean separation between layers is often difficult
and a high-level layer may have to interact directly with lower-level
layers rather than through the layer immediately below it. Performance
can be a problem because of multiple levels of interpretation of a
service request as it is processed at each layer.
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A generic layered architecture
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The architecture of the LIBSYS system
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Repository architecture
Sub-systems must exchange data. This may be done
in two ways:
Shared data is held in a central database or repository and
may be accessed by all sub-systems;
Each sub-system maintains its own database and passes
data explicitly to other sub-systems.
When large amounts of data are to be shared, the
repository model of sharing is most commonly used as
this is an efficient data sharing mechanism.
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The Repository pattern
Name Repository
Description All data in a system is managed in a central repository that is accessible
to all system components. Components do not interact directly, only
through the repository.
Example Figure 6.9 is an example of an IDE where the components use a repository
of system design information. Each software tool generates information
which is then available for use by other tools.
When used You should use this pattern when you have a system in which large
volumes of information are generated that has to be stored for a long
time. You may also use it in data-driven systems where the inclusion of
data in the repository triggers an action or tool.
Advantages Components can be independent—they do not need to know of the
existence of other components. Changes made by one component can be
propagated to all components. All data can be managed consistently (e.g.,
backups done at the same time) as it is all in one place.
Disadvantages The repository is a single point of failure so problems in the repository affect
the whole system. May be inefficiencies in organizing all communication
through the repository. Distributing the repository across several computers
may be difficult.
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A repository architecture for an IDE
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Client-server architecture
Distributed system model which shows how data and
processing is distributed across a range of
components.
Can be implemented on a single computer.
Set of stand-alone servers which provide specific
services such as printing, data management, etc.
Set of clients which call on these services.
Network which allows clients to access servers.
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The Client–server pattern
Name Client-server
Description In a client–server architecture, the functionality of the system is
organized into services, with each service delivered from a separate
server. Clients are users of these services and access servers to make
use of them.
Example Figure 6.11 is an example of a film and video/DVD library organized as a
client–server system.
When used Used when data in a shared database has to be accessed from a
range of locations. Because servers can be replicated, may also be used
when the load on a system is variable.
Advantages The principal advantage of this model is that servers can be distributed
across a network. General functionality (e.g., a printing service) can be
available to all clients and does not need to be implemented by all
services.
Disadvantages Each service is a single point of failure so susceptible to denial of service
attacks or server failure. Performance may be unpredictable because it
depends on the network as well as the system. May be management
problems if servers are owned by different organizations.
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A client–server architecture for a film library
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Pipe and filter architecture
Functional transformations process their inputs to
produce outputs.
May be referred to as a pipe and filter model (as in UNIX
shell).
Variants of this approach are very common. When
transformations are sequential, this is a batch sequential
model which is extensively used in data processing
systems.
Not really suitable for interactive systems.
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The pipe and filter pattern
Name Pipe and filter
Description The processing of the data in a system is organized so that each processing
component (filter) is discrete and carries out one type of data transformation.
The data flows (as in a pipe) from one component to another for processing.
Example Figure 6.13 is an example of a pipe and filter system used for processing
invoices.
When used Commonly used in data processing applications (both batch- and
transaction-based) where inputs are processed in separate stages to
generate related outputs.
Advantages Easy to understand and supports transformation reuse. Workflow style matches
the structure of many business processes. Evolution by adding transformations
is straightforward. Can be implemented as either a sequential or concurrent
system.
Disadvantages The format for data transfer has to be agreed upon between communicating
transformations. Each transformation must parse its input and unparse its
output to the agreed form. This increases system overhead and may mean that
it is impossible to reuse functional transformations that use incompatible data
structures.
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An example of the pipe and filter architecture
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Application architectures
Application systems are designed to meet an
organizational need.
As businesses have much in common, their application
systems also tend to have a common architecture that
reflects the application requirements.
A generic application architecture is an architecture
for a type of software system that may be configured and
adapted to create a system that meets specific
requirements.
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Use of application architectures
As a starting point for architectural design.
As a design checklist.
As a way of organising the work of the development
team.
As a means of assessing components for reuse.
As a vocabulary for talking about application types.
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Examples of application types
Data processing applications
Data driven applications that process data in batches without explicit user
intervention during the processing. (E.g. Bank End-of-Day Processing; Payroll
Systems)
Transaction processing applications
Data-centred applications that process user requests and update information in a
system database.(E.g. E-commerce systems; Reservation systems)
Event processing systems
Applications where system actions depend on interpreting events from the
system’s environment. (E.g. Intrusion Detection System (IDS); Smart Home
Automation)
Language processing systems
Applications where the users’ intentions are specified in a formal language that is
processed and interpreted by the system.(E.g. Compilers; Command
interpreters)
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