Software Architecture Metrics

Chapter 8. Progressing from Metrics to Engineering

Neal Ford

I took a circuitous route through university, sampling many different majors along the way. For several years, I diligently pursued an educational path toward mechanical engineering. I achieved my two-year degree in physics and started in the coursework at a major engineering university nearby. After a year, I decided to switch over to computer science (the classes I enjoyed rather than endured) and leave the physical engineering world forever.

However, I spent enough time studying the subject to admire the difference between the basic mathematics of physics and how it morphed to become the real-world discipline of mechanical engineering. Math forms the measurement, but until engineers figured out exactly how that math reflects the real world, they couldn’t use that knowledge to build things.

Architects and developers have the same relationship with metrics that engineers have with physics: the metric forms the measure, but evaluating that measure within a useful context transforms metrics into engineering practices. Architects and developers have been using metrics to validate parts of architecture for decades, but often in an ad hoc way. What we need is a consistent approach to utilizing metrics that supports engineering. While software engineering is nowhere nearly as far along as physical engineering, we are learning how to convert measurements into engineering practices.

The Path to Fitness Functions

In Building ...