A documentation framework for architecture decisions

► Current architecture decision approaches do not cover all the concerns of involved stakeholders. ► Dedicated decision viewpoints must be defined to frame stakeholder concerns in architecture decisions. ► Decision views can be created with reasonable effort. In this paper, we introduce a documentat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of systems and software 2012-04, Vol.85 (4), p.795-820
Main Authors: van Heesch, U., Avgeriou, P., Hilliard, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Architectural viewpoints
Architecture
Architecture (computers)
Architecture decisions
Architecture framework
Architecture knowledge management
Case study
Chronology
Computer architecture
Computer programs
Decision support systems
Decisions
Documentation
Software
Software architecture
Studies
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Summary:► Current architecture decision approaches do not cover all the concerns of involved stakeholders. ► Dedicated decision viewpoints must be defined to frame stakeholder concerns in architecture decisions. ► Decision views can be created with reasonable effort. In this paper, we introduce a documentation framework for architecture decisions. This framework consists of four viewpoint definitions using the conventions of ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010, the new international standard for the description of system and software architectures. The four viewpoints, a Decision Detail viewpoint, a Decision Relationship viewpoint, a Decision Chronology viewpoint, and a Decision Stakeholder Involvement viewpoint satisfy several stakeholder concerns related to architecture decision management. With the exception of the Decision Stakeholder Involvement viewpoint, the framework was evaluated in an industrial case study. The results are promising, as they show that decision views can be created with reasonable effort while satisfying many of the stakeholder concerns in decision documentation.
ISSN:0164-1212
1873-1228
DOI:10.1016/j.jss.2011.10.017