What is Architecture?
Why should you care? If you'e a software architect, you might want to have some idea of what it is you're supposed to be delivering. If you're a manager, you might want to have some idea of what an architecture can do for your project. If you're a developer you might want to know what an architecture can do for your design and development. If you're none of these things then you must really have something better to do than read this blog right?
So despite my earlier post about the woes of an industry that relies on using analogies with other endeavours, I thought I would take a stab at defining what Architecture is - at least so far as it relates to Software Development. Why would I want to do this? Well, mainly because I've heard the cry 'what we need here is an architecture' or 'what we need here is an architect' pretty often but no one seems to be able to really say what Architecture is. What problems should it address? What are the deliverables? There seems to be no clear definition. Many definitions are self referential a bit like these two entries from dictionary.com:
hill [hil] –noun
1. a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
1. a natural elevation of the earth's surface rising more or less abruptly to a summit, and attaining an altitude greater than that of a hill
tnWell. That's cleared that up then. Fortunately for us we all have a fairly clear concept in our head of what a hill is and what a mountain is. Unfortunately for us that concept varies greatly depending on where you live - A mountain in Scotland barely classes as a bump in the road in the Himalayas. The situation with software architecture is no better, and I would go so far as to say it is much worse. Fortunately for you, lucky reader, by the time you've finished reading this post you'll be in no doubt about what software architecture is (hooray for me) that is if you haven't died of boredom first,
