Web 2.0 Architectures

A Metamodel for Architectural Patterns

This section will introduce readers to a specific metamodel for documenting patterns as use cases and solution templates for software architecture. We’ll use this metamodel for all the pattern definitions in this book.

The patterns metamodel we use is a variation of the Mackenzie-Nickull Architectural Patterns metamodel, which is intended for both novices and seasoned experts. It ensures a consistent form and level of documentation while appealing to the widest possible audience for each pattern.

The Mackenzie-Nickull Architectural Patterns metamodel was originally designed to facilitate quick capture of use cases from business stakeholders, with subsequent substance to be added by more technical stakeholders (architects, systems engineers, etc.). Anyone seeking to use the template can modify it for their own purposes; it’s freely available intellectual property. The only major departure is that in this book we decided to abandon the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and use a less formally constrained concept map notation for graphical representations of many of the patterns.

Note

The metamodel in this book is based on version 0.91 of the Mackenzie-Nickull Architectural Patterns metamodel. Both the Mackenzie-Nickull metamodel and the one in this book are in the public domain and may be used without restriction as long as that usage remains within the bounds of the open license. The Mackenzie-Nickull Architectural Patterns metamodel is updated periodically ...