Software Architect's Handbook

Architectural changes across multiple dimensions

The final part of the definition for evolutionary architecture put forth by Rebecca Parsons, Neal Ford, and Patrick Kua is that an evolutionary architecture is one that can support change across multiple dimensions. A software system consists of different dimensions and a software architect must consider all of them to build a system that can evolve.

Software architects may naturally focus on the technical aspects of an architecture, such as its programming language, frameworks, and third-party libraries. However, software architects must also concern themselves with other aspects of the software system. The database (and its data), security, performance, and its deployment environment are ...