Assignment Summary

In this assignment, you can examine several seminal papers in the development of software architecture. The first, written 35 years ago by David Parnas, is one of the earliest works related to software architecture. The second, written by Mary Shaw 17 years after Parnas's paper lays the groundwork for the ‘new' field of software architecture.

Learning Objectives

After completing this assignment, students will

• Have an appreciation for some of the early research work in Software Architecture; and,
• Understand the history of how software architecture has evolved over time.

Components

The assignment should be a 3-page essay based on the provided format starting with a very brief abstract followed by sections of introduction, discussion, critical analysis and conclusion. You should address the following points in your discussion and critical analysis part:

• What are the connections between Shaw's observations and those that Parnas made? How does Shaw's work build on that of Parnas? How does Shaw's work fill in or correct some of the things that Parnas missed in his work?
• What are the most relevant points that Shaw makes in relation to modern systems and software architecture?
• What are the most significant points that Shaw did not anticipate and/or address (and why)?
• Are the points that Shaw and Parnas did not address addressed today (if so, how)? Which problems still remain open?
• Shaw discusses patterns and higher levels of abstraction. What are the patterns that you can see in the evolution of programming and software architecture?

References

[Par72] David L. Parnas. "On the Criteria to be Used on Decomposing Systems into Modules," Communications of the ACM, 15(12):1053-1058, 1972.

[Shaw89] Mary Shaw. "Larger Scale Systems Require Higher-Level Abstractions," Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Software Specifications and Design, published

Attachment:- ASSIGNMENT.rar