Software architecture: essential elements to strengthen your development process

Software Architecture is quite a popular term in the development world. Despite its importance and relevance, some people still don't know enough about this structural system. In this article, I'd like to share the most significant reasons why Software Architecture is crucial for your projects and several practical tips about it.

First, it's worth providing the definition of SA and an explanation of what it is. Software Architecture can be described as "the structure of structures of an information system consisting of entities and their externally visible properties, and the relationships among them."

I also love this explanation of SA by Technopedia:

"Software architecture is a structured framework used to conceptualize software elements, relationships and properties. This term also references software architecture documentation, which facilitates stakeholder communication while documenting early and high-level decisions regarding design and design component and pattern reuse for different projects."

Now that we've taken a closer look at what Software Architecture is, it's time to explain what makes a good SA and why it is crucial for your development projects.

What makes a good Software Architecture

There are attributes of Software Architecture that one could call either good or not so good. The key elements are:

• The architecture meets the project requirements. A good Software Architecture fits the initial project requirements and can be adapted to any new ones. All good architectures plan for both today and tomorrow.
• The architecture is built for operational excellence. It's easily maintainable, flexible, and can be scaled up (or down) as needed. Good architectures also understand the relationship to organizational structure and know who will maintain them.
• The architecture is built for its users. It provides a user-friendly structure, whether it's for a developer or another end user, internally or externally. Performance has a significant impact on that user experience and should be considered here.

Architectures that meet current and future requirements, as well as build for both operations and user experience, are fair to call good Software Architectures.

Why is Software Architecture important?

Now that we know what good Software Architecture looks like, we can dig more into why it is so important to the business.

SA helps with early-stage decision-making

The decisions you make at the very beginning of your project define every next step you take. Creating a solid Software Architecture first means having a well-defined project plan at your service.

You can also predict the qualities of your future system based on your SA. Moreover, with Software Architecture serving as your development guide down the road, it's easier to both fulfill your requirement and make any necessary changes.

SA allows for making further changes and adjustments

Speaking of changes, if the software has good architecture at its core, it will be much easier to implement new features and make adjustments to it.

It's inevitable that in the future, you'll want to add new functionality to your application based on tech advancement, customer demands, etc. A solid SA provides an understanding of what it takes to make a particular change and how to do it efficiently.

SA serves as a communication link between stakeholders

The Software Architecture allows all stakeholders, especially clients that are usually less tech-savvy, to better understand the project's structure and know what has to be done to complete it.

Considering that stakeholders usually have different concerns and priorities, SA acts as a common roadmap for them to agree on. Architecture is especially significant for complex software, which can be hard to understand for those not involved in IT.

5 pieces of advice on Software Architecture

So how does an architect produce a good architectural design? Here are the five principles that have been successful in my experience:

1. Stick to your core requirements when creating Software Architecture. Avoid scope creep, map requirements to organizational structures, and design for scaling.
2. Don't fixate on a single pattern in the beginning. Only choose a specific one after you have an excellent overall understanding of your future software components.
3. Be ready to re-do the first version of your Software Architecture. Great software is designed to be deleted and iterated on. You won't get it right the first time.
4. Choose an estimation approach you feel more comfortable with. Every executive will want time estimates. Choose one that's realistic and be firm.
5. Focus on reusability. Avoid artisanal infrastructure by designing for repeat usage of everything from software libraries to container images. You are sure to reuse them.

Conclusion

When starting a new development project, begin by designing a good SA. Spending time to build a strong initial foundation for your software can save you many resources later in the process. Additionally, every stakeholder involved will be able to understand what should be done to complete the project.

Good Software Architecture meets its requirements while being designed for the long-term possibilities of scaling up and down. When approaching a new project, use the five pieces of advice as a guideline to getting started. If you do, SA will be your development North Star.