he 3+1 Approach to Software Architecture Description Using UML
The 3+1 Approach to Software Architecture
Description Using UML
Revision 2.2
Henrik Bærbak Christensen, Aino Corry, and Klaus Marius Hansen
Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus
Aabogade 34, 8200 ˚rhus N, Denmark
A
{hbc,apaipi,marius}@daimi.au.dk
May 2011
Abstract
This document presents a practical way of describing software architectures using the Unified Modeling Language. The approach is based on a “3+1” structure in which three viewpoints on the described system are used – module, component & connector, and allocation – are used to describe a solution for a set of architectural requirements.
1
Introduction
Software architecture represents an appropriate level of abstraction for many system development activitites [Bass et al., 2003]. Consequently and correspondingly, appropriate software architectural descriptions may support,
e.g., stakeholder communication, iterative and incremental architectural design, or evaluation of architectures [Bass et al., 2003], [Clements et al., 2002b],
[Clements et al., 2002a].
This document represents a practical basis for architectural description and in doing so, we follow the IEEE recommended practice for architectural description of software-intensive systems
[Software Engineering Standards Committee, 2000].
Central to this recommended practice is the concept of a viewpoint through which the software architecture of a system is described (see Figure 1). A concrete architectural description consists of a set of views corresponding to a chosen set of viewpoints.
This document recommends the use of three viewpoints (in accordance with the recommendations of [Clements et al., 2002a]):
• A Module viewpoint concerned with how functionality of the system maps to static development units,
• a Component & Connector viewpoint concerned with the runtime mapping of functionality to components of the architecture, and
• an Allocation viewpoint concerned with how software entities are
Description Using UML
Revision 2.2
Henrik Bærbak Christensen, Aino Corry, and Klaus Marius Hansen
Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus
Aabogade 34, 8200 ˚rhus N, Denmark
A
{hbc,apaipi,marius}@daimi.au.dk
May 2011
Abstract
This document presents a practical way of describing software architectures using the Unified Modeling Language. The approach is based on a “3+1” structure in which three viewpoints on the described system are used – module, component & connector, and allocation – are used to describe a solution for a set of architectural requirements.
1
Introduction
Software architecture represents an appropriate level of abstraction for many system development activitites [Bass et al., 2003]. Consequently and correspondingly, appropriate software architectural descriptions may support,
e.g., stakeholder communication, iterative and incremental architectural design, or evaluation of architectures [Bass et al., 2003], [Clements et al., 2002b],
[Clements et al., 2002a].
This document represents a practical basis for architectural description and in doing so, we follow the IEEE recommended practice for architectural description of software-intensive systems
[Software Engineering Standards Committee, 2000].
Central to this recommended practice is the concept of a viewpoint through which the software architecture of a system is described (see Figure 1). A concrete architectural description consists of a set of views corresponding to a chosen set of viewpoints.
This document recommends the use of three viewpoints (in accordance with the recommendations of [Clements et al., 2002a]):
• A Module viewpoint concerned with how functionality of the system maps to static development units,
• a Component & Connector viewpoint concerned with the runtime mapping of functionality to components of the architecture, and
• an Allocation viewpoint concerned with how software entities are
References: [Bass et al., 2003] Bass, L., Clements, P., and Kazman, R. (2003). Software Architecture in Practice [Clements et al., 2002a] Clements, P., Bachmann, F., Bass, L., Garlan, D., Ivers, J., Little, R., Nord, R., and Sta↵ord, J., editors (2002a) [Clements et al., 2002b] Clements, P., Kazman, R., and Klein, M., editors (2002b) [Hofmeister et al., 1999] Hofmeister, C., Nord, R., and Soni, D., editors (1999). 11 [Larman, 2002] Larman, C [OMG, 2003] OMG (2003). Unified Modeling Language specification 1.5. Technical Report formal/2003-03-01, Object Management Group. [Software Engineering Standards Committee, 2000] Software Engineering Standards Committee (2000). IEEE recommended practice for architectural description of software-intensive systems