In this work we apply the proposed AATDM process (i.e., DATDM approach) to managing ATD within the general architecting process in Hofmeister et al. (2007). A software architecture can be considered as a set of architecture decisions (Jansen and Bosch, 2005). Therefore, the architecting process can be regarded as a decision-making process. The objective of this approach is to facilitate the architecture decision-making process by managing ATD and, consequently to assist architects in making appropriate and well-founded decisions and to ensure that the ATD of a system remains controllable.
ATDM within the architecting process and focuses on how the ATD flow can facilitate the architecting activities. The ATD flow refers to a kind of data (artifacts) flow from the ATDM process to the architecting process. The ATD flow, consisting of instances of ATD concepts, bridges the gap between the ATDM process and the value-oriented architecting process. ATDM can facilitate both architectural synthesis and evaluation. In particular, measured ATD items can be used as input for architectural synthesis and evaluation activities: In architectural synthesis, an architect can reflect on the design options for a decision topic in terms of ATD, and particularly in terms of the costs and benefits of the identified ATD items. In architectural evaluation, the evaluator assesses the architecture decisions made (either implemented into code or not) against the related architecturally significant requirements (ASRs), for example, scenarios pertaining to a certain quality attribute. The identified and measured ATD items can be used as inputs and outputs of architectural evaluation. The existing architectural evaluation methods tend to assess to what extent the architecture design meets the existing requirements. ATDM is concerned with the balance of cost and benefit of a software system from an ATD perspective. Thus, ATDM provides a complementary perspective on the costs and benefits of architecture decisions caused by ATD to existing evaluation methods. ATDM can be used to facilitate decision making in architectural synthesis (i.e., make architecture decisions for decision topics) and to evaluate architecture decisions that have been made. ATDM activities can be triggered in the following situations: maintenance tasks are hard to complete, or new functionalities are difficult to add and implement in an existing architecture; there is a need to update the information of existing ATD items of an architecture due to changes of this architecture; and there is a need to evaluate the existing decisions at any point of time.
ATDM within the architecting process and focuses on how the ATD flow can facilitate the architecting activities. The ATD flow refers to a kind of data (artifacts) flow from the ATDM process to the architecting process. The ATD flow, consisting of instances of ATD concepts, bridges the gap between the ATDM process and the value-oriented architecting process. ATDM can facilitate both architectural synthesis and evaluation. In particular, measured ATD items can be used as input for architectural synthesis and evaluation activities: In architectural synthesis, an architect can reflect on the design options for a decision topic in terms of ATD, and particularly in terms of the costs and benefits of the identified ATD items. In architectural evaluation, the evaluator assesses the architecture decisions made (either implemented into code or not) against the related architecturally significant requirements (ASRs), for example, scenarios pertaining to a certain quality attribute. The identified and measured ATD items can be used as inputs and outputs of architectural evaluation. The existing architectural evaluation methods tend to assess to what extent the architecture design meets the existing requirements. ATDM is concerned with the balance of cost and benefit of a software system from an ATD perspective. Thus, ATDM provides a complementary perspective on the costs and benefits of architecture decisions caused by ATD to existing evaluation methods. ATDM can be used to facilitate decision making in architectural synthesis (i.e., make architecture decisions for decision topics) and to evaluate architecture decisions that have been made. ATDM activities can be triggered in the following situations: maintenance tasks are hard to complete, or new functionalities are difficult to add and implement in an existing architecture; there is a need to update the information of existing ATD items of an architecture due to changes of this architecture; and there is a need to evaluate the existing decisions at any point of time.
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