Software Architecture Design Tips and Tricks| Jaycon Systems
Firmware programming allows engineers to develop and design the architecture of software applications, create the various features included within those applications, optimize coding, and deliver a tailored, focused solution designed specifically for your organization’s needs. But what does firmware programming entail, and how can you ensure that yours goes off without a hitch? We recommend partnering with a dedicated team like Jaycon Systems to handle the product design from start to finish.
But in the meantime, you can check out our guide on designing the perfect architecture and features for your software platforms and tools.
What is Software Architecture Design?
Software architecture design involves planning the high-level structural design of the software. This is just a framework and should leave room for details to be added later. This helps developers and teams get the big picture on paper and start creating a prototype that can get them closer to launching an actual product.
As part of this process, software architecture aims to minimize the workforce required to build and maintain critical systems. Several skills and tools can help with this process, but the focus should be on determining the best structure for your particular design. Anyone can be a pro coder and developer, but there’s more to creating a solid software architecture than just development.
What is LAAM?
The best architects utilize various processes and methodologies to evaluate the quality of the architecture they develop. ATAM, or the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method, is a time-consuming process that involves nine different steps and takes as many as 30 people. An alternative is LAAM or the Lean Architecture Analysis Method.
This involves four steps:
1. Collect and define quality metrics and goals
Metrics, scenarios, generate, analyze. It sounds easy enough, but it’s not something to attempt alone. Hire a dedicated team of engineers to help you get your software architecture design right, and you’ll guarantee that all these steps are followed in the process.
You can’t develop a solid architecture unless you have a process for measuring it. This is where creating quality metrics and defining your goals will be necessary. You should also include the views of every stakeholder (QA, developers, end-users, management, product support, etc.). You don’t necessarily have to speak to them all firsthand but think about what they would want from your architecture and use that to guide your goals.
2. Brainstorm quality-related scenarios
Brainstorming is next. Consider the possible scenarios under which your product will be tested. This can help you determine how to create an effective architecture and ensure that they fit your business’s goals. Typical use cases, growth, and exploratory use should all be considered here. Please don’t overdo it, but consider the high-priority scenarios to ensure your goals are on point.
3. Generate architectural approaches and concepts
Then, you can use this information to develop your architectural practice and the ideas behind your overall design. You will be able to use the collected data to help you consider which type of architecture makes the most sense for your design. After you’ve done that, you’ll want to analyze each approach and take the time to compare how they perform compared to your anticipated results.
4. Analyze each approach
This is also where you determine which structural elements are most integral to your overall goals with development and design. You can sketch this out by hand or use any software platform to get an idea of where you’re headed. Or you can work with our team of experts to handle all the details of software architecture design for you.
Why Do I Need Custom Software Design and Development?
There are some instances when off-the-shelf applications and tools could prove to be “good enough” for the needs of a software solution. However, that’s not very often these days. To keep up with evolving technologies, it’s best to assume your business is better off customizing its software design and applications since OTS products can be limiting and rigid in their capabilities.
Every business and every project will have its unique requirements to consider. However, if you’re looking for a list of reasons to consider custom software architecture development, take note:
- Better security
- Unique applications
- Lower costs
- Better adaptability
- Improved work processes
- Reliability
- Exclusive ownership rights
- Long-term maintenance
- Personalized business processes
- Scalability and flexibility
- Seamless integration with other software
These are just a handful of the perks that come with custom software development. And more than the benefits, it’s a matter of giving your business the solutions it deserves. There is no other choice if you ask our team of experts. Let’s talk more about how we do it.
Five Steps to Designing your perfect Architecture
Now that you understand software architecture and feature development, you’ll be more prepared to begin the process yourself or discuss the progress with your team members. Designing this architecture will be simpler for those who follow these steps and keep in mind best practices.
Step One: Make the Requirements Clear
Each design has a set of functional and non-functional requirements that will guide the architecture and development process. These requirements also ensure that you can finish the project by producing something the stakeholders are pleased with. Having a clear understanding of these requirements allows your team to stay focused.
Teams could get lost or emphasize the wrong requirement without requirements spelled out among everyone from the beginning. Or worse, they could waste valuable internal resources and project time to reach their end goal. It is best to begin with a high-level view of the requirements and then map out functional requirements. Consider the verbs being used so that you know how to classify things. For example, if you have “account” settings, you can use verbs such as “view” and “edit” to link so that people can see their settings.
You should jot down any non-functional requirements that come to mind for use later on in the development process. These functional and non-functional requirements will help you plan the scope of your work and the details of your project.
Step Two: Think about the Various Components to Be Included
Functional requirements weigh heavily on a project. Therefore, the technology and design options might already be limited or determined by the project’s needs. You don’t want to get ahead of yourself, though. You should consider what elements will create challenges and if there are any that are impossible.
It’s best to start with a “perfect world” scenario. What would your software architecture look like in a perfect situation? Of course, that’s not going to happen, but it’s a good starting point. Then, consider how your requirements affect your design and architecture, including where stakeholders may contradict each other and how you can resolve these conflicts.
Then, you’ll want to wait until you finish the rest of the process and let the architecture planning and development take its path. Part of that includes breaking your architecture design into slices to develop a solution that delivers value to your users while planning for the best use of resources.
Step Three: Break the Project into Pieces
A cake analogy is famous in the development space because it allows you to see how you need to build your software architecture. If you bisect a cake, the slice you cut will have a horizontal and a vertical “slice” to consider. The horizontal slicing separates individual layers, while the vertical slice includes a little bit of everything.
Your architecture design needs to include both vertical and horizontal thinking if you are going to succeed. Agile development focuses on the vertical slice, giving your team the tools to deliver value quickly. For example, if you’ve got an e-commerce site, a vertical slice might be your email signup process.
Diagraming the project layers helps engineers visualize the ideal “cake” that will create the architecture that suits the needs of your stakeholders and the business itself. That also lends tons of insight into the prototyping process, which is up next.
Step Four: Prototype Your Design
Prototyping is where your plan’s actual bugs will be discovered. Like mechanical rapid prototyping, building software architecture requires creating a sample to test your structure, design, and other elements. You need to create multiple prototypes, not just one. The first one will not be perfect. Perhaps, neither will the fifth one or the hundredth one. The benefit of creating prototypes is that they’re meant to be tested. More importantly, they’re intended to fail to allow you the opportunity to identify improvements in the design.
You’ll want to ensure that you carefully track your revision history when you’re prototyping, including what was revised and why, what problems you’ve found, and how you can expect to correct them. Make sure that version control parameters are in place so that you’re not creating multiple changes in a single version, which can confuse follow. Diagrams can also help you manage and visualize your prototypes as they progress in the architecture design process.
Step Five: Identify Non-Functional Elements and Requirements
Knowing the functional elements isn’t enough. As we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, you also have to consider the non-functional aspects of your design. These are requirements that are primarily high-level but not necessarily in every case. There may also be different non-functional requirements for various parts of the architecture, such as a vested interest in the vertical slice of the customer service section of the design by your customer service team.
The big thing here is quantifying those requirements and elements. You can’t seek “perfect” performance. You must find metrics and identify benchmarks by which you can determine whether your design is going as it should. You can’t avoid these elements. Just because they’re non-functional doesn’t mean they’re a non-issue. Make sure that you pay attention to things like scalability, performance, extensibility, and portability, among other things.
As has been done in other steps, visualizing and diagramming these requirements can go a long way in helping the team ensure that they are all handled in the relevant context and optimized for the relevant stakeholders.
Tips for Success
In addition to partnering with a team of dedicated experts, there are some tips and best practices you can keep in mind for software architecture design.
• Take advantage of visualization. Conceptualizing and visualizing your architecture will help guarantee that you see the processes and aspects of your choices in action to know whether you’re making the right moves.
• Don’t start with patterns. Let them emerge on their own. You should focus your design process on the bigger picture so that you don’t rely too much on trends and tendencies that may or may not be appropriate for the job.
• Remember that the first design is just that: the first. It’s not going to be perfect, nor is it supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a start, and it will help you get to the next step.
• Keep boundaries in mind but don’t be ruled by them — many obstacles can be overcome in architecture design thanks to modern technology. However, keeping your limits and your notes close at hand is best.
Choosing Your Architectural Pattern
Of course, with all your education, you can now see the importance of choosing the best architects and architectural patterns for your software development. Like building a house, some software and systems will have unique building blocks that aren’t found in every design. These structural elements are part of a pattern that captures the entire system’s design so it can be reused in the future. This helps engineers develop frameworks faster and spend less time on custom projects.
We won’t go into detail about all the different types of architectural patterns in software design because that would take a lot more time and space. Still, we’ll mention some more popular options to help you better understand what we mean by architectural “patterns:” Research any system that catches your attention; it may be your advantage over the competition.
1. Model-view-controller:
This divides applications into those three elements, with the model being the core functionality and application data. The view is what interacts with the user and displays data. Finally, the controller handles input, mediating between the picture and the model. This interaction is what generates the appropriate responses.
2. Microservices pattern:
This involves creating multiple services or applications that will be able to work on an interdependent basis. Microservices can be deployed and developed independently, but the functionality needs to be interwoven for this pattern to be effective. The key here is separate unit deployment and a streamlined pipeline for delivery, increasing scalability.
3. Client-server architecture:
This basic functional pattern includes two components. The first is the client or service requester, and the second is the server or the service provider. Although these entities are often within the same system, they could communicate via a network from separate hardware.
4. Controller-responder:
This used to be called the “master/slave” pattern, but that language is outdated and unpleasant, and many engineers have started using different terms here. Common replacements include primary/secondary, parent/helper, master/replica, and primary/replica. This consists of one controller that sends a response to multiple responders. The controller determines communication priorities, such as when you duplicate a cassette or CD. The “master copy” or original was the controller, and the blank CD or cassette was the responder.
5. Layered architecture:
This is a popular choice for developers because it makes creating subtasks easy. Layering allows them to create a cohesive set of services and solutions that are unidirectional and designed to deliver the execution necessary. These layers interact so that when users engage with the software, the presentation layer lets the application layer know, and so on, until the access details are stored in the database.
Qualities to Look for In Software Architects and Designers
So, you’ve decided that you’re going to team up with the experts to develop your next software architecture and get some assistance with feature development. Perhaps you’ve already looked into what service businesses look for in clients, and now it’s time to look into what clients need from service businesses. When considering designers, architects, and engineers for your software build, consider:
• Experience Type
• Length of Experience
• Satisfaction Ratings
• Reputation/Reviews
• Familiarity with Technology
The team at Jaycon Systems has dedicated experience with software architecture design and firmware planning, in addition to several other product designs and development services. The future of business processes is customized, starting with the design of your software architecture. Contact us today to learn how we can help you develop the best strategy for your software and applications, no matter what you have in mind.
Originally published at https://jayconsystems.com on May 23, 2022.
