What is Software Architecture and Why Should We Learn it

Shota Nukumizu
2 min readOct 29, 2022

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Two programmers who are developing their app
©storyset

Introduction

As you read this article, have you ever heard of “software architecture”? Or do you already know it? Software architecture is an essential concept for smooth programming and web development.

In this article, I will give a brief overview of software architecture and the reasons to learn it, mainly for beginners. We hope that through this article, your understanding of “software architecture” will be sufficiently deepened.

What is software architecture?

According to the Wikipedia article, it is referred to as follows.

Software architecture refers to the fundamental structures of a software system and the discipline of creating such structures and systems. Each structure comprises software elements, relations among them, and properties of both elements and relations. The architecture of a software system is a metaphor, analogous to the architecture of a building. It functions as a blueprint for the system and the developing project, which project management can later use to extrapolate the tasks necessary to be executed by the teams and people involved.

Since actual software is complex, it is conceivable that the concept of software architecture was introduced to reduce its complexity. Software architecture is a concept created to make the structure of the software to be designed easier to understand.

The main software architectures used in actual development include the following.

  • Hierarchical architecture
  • Domain-driven model
  • Clean Architecture
  • Microservices architecture

This article does not provide a detailed explanation of these architectures. We hope you will find them informative.

Why should we learn software architecture?

Why should we programmers learn software architecture?

The answer to this question varies from person to person, but I think the biggest reason is that it helps to create a common understanding among programmers. Architecture is an important concept that serves as a foundation for writing code. If the foundation is strong, even less technically skilled programmers have a better chance of writing maintainable code.

Other benefits of learning software architecture include.

  • Conflicts can be prevented before they occur.
  • It eliminates complexity because you can isolate responsibilities
  • It provides guidance in actually designing the project. (rules become clear, such as how communication, business logic, state management, etc., should be written, etc.)
  • Easier to review
  • Easier to write test code

Conclusion

Software architecture is an essential concept for smooth development.

The main points of this article are as follows.

  • Software architecture is a concept designed to make it easier to understand the structure of the software to be designed.
  • The most important reason to learn software architecture is to create a common understanding among programmers.

I hope that the contents of this article will help you to deepen your understanding of software architecture.

References

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