Practical Software Architecture: Moving from System Context to Deployment

One of the toughest challenges software architects face is to effectively document their systems and architectures. Yet this is also one of their most "crucial" challenges, because ambiguous, incomplete, or inaccurate documentation leads directly to failures in design and implementation. Now, pioneering IBM senior architect Tilak Mitra offers the first complete guide to writing architectural documentation that is clear, crisp, accurate, non-redundant, and "usable." This is the only book to provide detailed prescriptive and pragmatic guidance for documenting any real-world IT project, regardless of system, methodology, or environment. Mitra specifically identifies the artifacts that require documentation, showing how to fully communicate your solution to stakeholders, and enable implementers to move confidently from macro-level to micro-level design. Step by step, Mitra addresses key architectural aspects including: system context, function, operations, infrastructure, integration, performance, capacity planning, SOA, and more. He shows how to avoid "over-engineering" and excessive documentation that can delay project delivery and increase risk, while ensuring that designers and developers "always" have the accurate and specific guidance they need.