Architecture Quality

Quality software systems require quality software architectures. Otherwise it is hard, if not impossible, to meet their functional and non-functional requirements or to master their inherent complexity. For instance, software architectures for systems with end-to-end quality of service demands, systems with stringent security requirements, or systems that are supposed to be in operation for 20+ years cannot be created on the fly, using contemporary middleware and tools. Instead these architectures must be crafted with care, following a defined specification process and being based on thoughtful design decisions.

Many design technologies exist to construct quality software architectures, ranging from fundamental architecture principles like separation of concerns, over patterns, to frameworks, aspects, models, and product-line architectures.

But how can we measure, assess, and evaluate the quality of a givgen architecture? Any constructive and thoughtful use of the above technologies maximizes the chance for a high architecture quality, but none of them can guarantee a success. This track, therefore, explores different approaches to measure and evaluate the quality of a software architecture: what are they, how do they work, what do they measure or assess, what are their benefits, what their limitations, and how do they copmplement one another. Each talk in this track focuses on a specific architecture quality assessment approach, and at the end of the track a panel will discuss and contrast these approaches in their entirety.