Your Ultimate Guide to Software Architecture

Technology has become such a crucial part of our day-to-day lives.

Nowadays, we use technologies to complete complicated tasks and for our daily needs.

With technology becoming a crucial part of our lives, software developers are working hard to create functional and easy-to-use software to solve our daily needs.

But have you ever stopped to think about what software developers have to go through to create functional software?

The chances are that we do not even stop to think about the components and software development process.

In this guide, we will discuss everything you should know about software architecture.

What is Software Architecture?

The most vital step of the software development process is software architecture.

Often referred to as the project framework, software architecture consists of various business handling and request processing modules.

Successful software development requires robust and precise planning.

Developers have to plan to make sure the structure and design of the software are functional.

Developing and coding planned software is easy and fast and in most cases, the developer will be halfway through the software development process once the software architecture is determined.

To put it in perspective, software architecture is the blueprint for creating functional and easy-to-use software.

What are the Five Principles of Software Architecture?

Software architecture must follow five principles to create functional and user-friendly software.

Adhering to these principles also enables developers to avoid mistakes that come with software development.

The following are the five principles of software architecture:

  1. Single-Responsibility Principle - All software architecture services should focus on a single objective. To achieve a specific goal, the services should play a specific role and facilitate the changes.
  2. Open-Closed Principle - Software architecture services should add to the flexibility of each independent software module. This means that each service should not influence the original performance of the software.
  3. Liskov Substitution Principle - According to this principle, two software architecture services should communicate with each other if they require them to do so through an API call. Moreover, the Liskov substitutional principle states that two services with the same contract should substitute without harming the overall performance.
  4. Interface Segregation Principle - The interface segregation principle states that each small service should be divided to eliminate redundancies. The services should be coupled in such a way that reduces the anti-patterns in the code while meeting the client's needs.
  5. Dependency Inversion Principle - This principle states that high-level modules should rely on abstractions instead of low-level modules. The dependency inversion principle also states that abstractions should rely on details.

How Do You Identify a Good Software Architecture?

Let us evaluate the quality attributes of a good software architecture below:

  • Good software architecture should be functional.
  • It should also be reliable.
  • Quality software architecture should be easy to use.
  • The software architecture should offer the desired performance.
  • It should provide supportability.
  • Good software architecture should be self-reliant.

Good software architecture plays a huge role in maintaining the software's functionality, performance, usability, and reliability.