CSCE 742 - Software Architectures

• Course Name: CSCE 742 - Software Architectures
• Semester: Fall 2018
• Instructor: Greg Gay
• Lecture Hours: Tuesday/Thursday, 8:30 - 9:45 AM, 2A05 Swearingen Engineering Center
• Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday, 4:00 - 5:00 PM, 2247 Storey Innovation and Engineering Center

Our society is built on software. It powers our homes, it manages our private information, it controls our cars, it automates our factories, and it even regulates our bodies. It is incredibly important that we construct robust, operational systems, especially given growing demand for features, limited development budgets and strict time constraints.

In the beginning, the entire codebase for a system would be written in a single file (or a punchcard!). Then, languages such as C added the ability to link code from multiple files together, enabling easier organization and code reuse. Object-oriented languages further increased our ability to organize code into logical entities. The systems that power our modern society may be built from hundreds - if not thousands - of individual classes.

Software architecture is one of the most important activities performed when designing a system. It is the practice of partitioning a large system into smaller ones that can be created separately, that individually have business value, and that can be straightforwardly integrated with one another and with existing systems. The goal of this course is to master skills that support this partitioning.

We will discuss the purpose and role of architecture in the overall process of software development, both as a process (​architecting ​ a system) and an artifact (the architecture of a system). We will also examine and debate the similarities and differences between "design" and "architecture". We will examine notations and tools designed to assist software architects and processes that can lead to good architectural outcomes and architectural refactoring.

• The students will be able to ​ work from stakeholder requirements to create system interfaces that support partitioning.
• The students will be able to ​ use different viewpoints to document software architectures to different stakeholders.
• The students will be able to ​ understand architectural quality attributes and how to use perspectives to assess how well the architecture meets them.
• The students will be able to ​ apply and understand architectural patterns to quickly examine architectural alternatives and choose between them.
• The students will be able ​ to clearly present and advocate architectural ideas.

• Class Syllabus
• Tentative Schedule

• Fundamental Topics
  
  • Lecture 01 - Introduction to Software Architecture
  • Lecture 02 - Introduction to Architectural Definition and Styles
    
    • Style Activity
  • Lecture 03 - Viewpoints and Perspectives
    
    • Viewpoint Activity
• The Architecture Definition Process
  
  • Lecture 04 - Architecture Definition
  • Lecture 05 - Setting Context and Identifying Stakeholders
    
    • Context Diagram Activity
  • Lecture 06 - Concerns, Principles, and Decisions
    
    • Concern Activity
  • Lecture 07 - Identifying and Using Scenarios
    
    • Scenario Activity
• Architectural Styles
  
  • Lecture 10 - Representational State Transfer (REST)
    
    • REST Activity
  • Lectures 20-21 - Real-Time Systems and Architectural Modeling
  • Lecture 22 - Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA)
  • Lecture 23 - Production-Ready Machine Learning for the Software Architect (Guest Lecture)
• Viewpoints
  
  • Lectures 8-9 - Viewpoint: Functional
    
    • Functional View Activity
  • Lecture 11 - Viewpoint: Information
  • Lecture 14 - Viewpoint: Concurrency
  • Lectures 15-16 - Viewpoints: Development, Deployment, and Operational
• Perspectives
  
  • Lecture 17 - Perspective: Performance and Scalability
  • Lecture 18 - Perspective: Security
  • Lecture 19 - Perspective: Availability
• Other Topics
  
  • Lecture 12 - Midterm Review
    
    • Practice Midterm (No Solutions)
    • Practice Midterm (Solutions)
  • Lecture 24 - Final Review
    
    • Practice Final (No Solutions)
    • Practice Final (Solutions)

• Assignment 0 - Team Selection
• Assignment 1
• Assignment 2
• Assignment 3

• Project Part 1 - System Selection
• Project Part 2 - System Scope and Requirements
• Project Part 3 - Architectural Description
• Project Part 4 - Extension and Modification