Overview

1 Introduction and Goals

Short description of the requirements, driving forces, extract (or abstract) of requirements. Top three (max five) quality goals for the architecture that have the highest priority for the major stakeholders. A table of important stakeholders with their expectations regarding architecture.

2 - Architecture Constraints

Anything that constrains teams in design and implementation decisions or decisions about related processes. Can sometimes go beyond individual systems and are valid for whole organizations and companies.

4 - Solution Strategy

Summary of the fundamental decisions and solution strategies that shape the architecture.

6 - Runtime View

The behavior of building blocks as scenarios, covering important use cases or features, interactions at critical external interfaces, operation, and administration plus error and exception behavior.

8 - Cross-cutting Concepts

Overall, principal regulations and solution approaches are relevant in multiple parts (→ cross-cutting) of the system. Concepts are often related to multiple building blocks. Include different topics like domain models, architecture patterns and -styles, rules for using specific technology and implementation rules.

11 - Risks and Technical Debts

Known technical risks or technical debt. What potential problems exist within or around the system? What does the development team feel miserable about?

3 - System Scope and Context

Delimits your system from its (external) communication partners (neighboring systems and users). Specifies the external interfaces. Shown from a business/domain perspective or a technical perspective.

5 - Building Block View

Static decomposition of the system, abstractions of source code, shown as a hierarchy of white boxes (containing black boxes), up to the appropriate level of detail.

7 - Deployment View

Technical infrastructure with environments, computers, processors, and topologies. Mapping of (software) building blocks to infrastructure elements.

9 - Architecture Decisions

Important, expensive, critical, large scale, or risky architecture decisions including rationales.