Practical Software Architecture: Moving from System Context to Deployment

Chapter 5. The Architecture Overview

The building is a marvel—its architecture immortal!

The preceding chapter covered the essence of the system context. The system to be built—that is, the IT System—has been a black box until now, and we have been carefully walking around its edges. In this chapter, we take our first bold step in opening up the black box and peek into it for a good look! Specifically, we will put on our view lens to glimpse a set of complementary views of the system’s architecture.

The architecture of any system can be rendered through multiple viewpoints, or views. Although each view has a specific value statement, my intent is to focus only on those views of the architecture that are just enough for the solution architect ...