Architectural Design and Design Pattern

What is it? Architectural design represents the structure of data and program components that are required to build a computer-based system. It considers the architectural style that the system will take, the structure and properties of the components that constitute the system, and the interrelationships that occur among all architectural components of a system

What are the steps? Architectural design begins with data design and then proceeds to the derivation of one or more representations architectural structure of the system. Alternative architectural styles or patterns are analyzed to derive the structure that is best suited to customer requirements and quality attributes. Once an alternative has been selected, the architecture is elaborated using an architectural design method.


What is the work product? An architecture model encompassing data architecture and program structure is created during architectural design.
In addition, component properties and relationships (interactions) are described.

software component can be something as simple as a program module, but it can also be extended to include databases and “middleware” that enable the configuration of a network of clients and servers. The properties of components are those characteristics that are necessary to an understanding of how the components interact with other components. At the architectural level, internal properties (e.g., details of an algorithm) are not specified.

The relationships between components can be as simple as a procedure call from one module to another or as complex as a database access protocol. The architectural design model and the architectural patterns contained within it are transferrable. That is, architecture styles and patterns can be applied to the design of other systems