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POWhat should be included in an Application Architecture checklist?
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copied!<p>I'm trying to come up with a checklist or set of questions/criteria to assess and evaluate proposed or emergent architectures (perform architectural reviews). What are the most important questions you ask when trying to plan, assess or review an architecture? </p> <p>I know this is a large topic so I'd like to constrain it to a single end-to-end system and not the architecture for an entire organization.</p> <p><em>Code Complete</em> provides a decent starting point:</p> <blockquote> <p>Architecture</p> <ul> <li>Is the overall organization of the program clear, including a good architectural overview and justification?</li> <li>Are modules well defined, including their functionality and their interfaces to other modules?</li> <li>Are all the functions listed in the requirements covered sensibly, by neither too many or too few modules?</li> <li>Is the architecture designed to accommodate likely changes?</li> <li>Are necessary buy-vs.-build decisions included?</li> <li>Does the architecture describe how reused code will be made to conform to other architectural objectives?</li> <li>Are all the major data structures hidden behind access routines?</li> <li>Is the database organization and content justified?</li> <li>Are all key algorithms described and justified?</li> <li>Are all major objects described and justified?</li> <li>Is a strategy for handling user input described?</li> <li>Is a strategy for handling I/O described and justified?</li> <li>Are key aspects of the user interface defined?</li> <li>Is the user interface modularized so that changes in it won't affect the rest of the program?</li> <li>Are memory-use estimates and a strategy for memory management described and justified?</li> <li>Does the architecture set space and speed budgets for each module?</li> <li>Is a strategy for handling strings described, and are character-string storage estimates provided?</li> <li>Is a coherent error-handling strategy provided?</li> <li>Are error messages managed as a set to present a clean user interface?</li> <li>Is a level of robustness specified?</li> <li>Is any part over- or under-architected? Are expectations in this area set out explicitly?</li> <li>Are the major system goals clearly stated?</li> <li>Does the whole architecture hang together conceptually?</li> <li>Is the top-level design independent of the machine and language that will be used to implement it?</li> <li>Are the motivations for all major decisions provided?</li> <li>Are you, as a programmer who will implement the system, comfortable with the architecture?</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>I'm looking for practical knowledge with examples, e.g., what were the most painful points in an architecture you've created? </p>

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