Software Systems Architecture: Working With Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives Review

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Software Systems Architecture: Working With Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives ReviewWhen it comes to the systems or software architecture, I subscribe to Tom Demarco's definition: "An architecture is a framework for the disciplined introduction of change." (http://www.systemsguild.com/GuildSite/TDM/Architecture.html). And while most of the job postings matching "architect" these days talk about the need for writing and testing code, there is a growing awareness in the industry that in order to build a resilient enterprise system an organization must look beyond design patterns and coding idioms. In addition to the technical challenges, building large enterprise system requires effort of many professionals during an extended period of time. This brings other non-technical risks into the picture.
This is one of the better books covering many issues that comprise System Architecture discipline in the light of their personal experience. The authors introduce us to an approach for partitioning architecture using Viewpoints (behavioral characteristics, e.g. Functional, Information, Concurrency, Development, Deployment, Operational) and Perspectives (nonfunctional aspects, e.g. Security, Performance and Scalability, Availability and Resilience, Evolution).
The first half of the book describes the discipline of Application Software Architecture, the second half contains two catalogs, one for Viewpoints and the other for Perspectives. Both catalogs describe concerns, artifacts (models), problems and pitfalls when focusing on a viewpoint or perspective.
I would qualify this book as a companion and reference for a beginner through intermediate level. It gives an excellent overview of what a system architect has to go through day in and day out to achieve success. The book contains a wealth of advice on what to pay and not pay attention to in any particular stage of the architectural development. The authors clearly speak from personal experience. Their examples are always to the point, although a bit sketchy with respect to details on techniques and artifacts and how to develop and use them. Considering the site of the volume, the authors did an excellent job balancing width and depth of coverage: trying to cover such a vast discipline in detail in a 500+-page book is not possible.Software Systems Architecture: Working With Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives Overview
Software Systems Architecture is a practitioner-oriented guide to designing and implementing effective architectures for information systems. It is both a readily accessible introduction to software architecture and an invaluable handbook of well-established best practices. It shows why the role of the architect is central to any successful information-systems development project, and, by presenting a set of architectural viewpoints and perspectives, provides specific direction for improving your own and your organization's approach to software systems architecture.

With this book you will learn how to

Design an architecture that reflects and balances the different needs of its stakeholders
Communicate the architecture to stakeholders and demonstrate that it has met their requirements
Focus on architecturally significant aspects of design, including frequently overlooked areas such as performance,resilience, and location
Use scenarios and patterns to drive the creation and validation of your architecture
Document your architecture as a set of related views
Use perspectives to ensure that your architecture exhibits important qualities such as performance, scalability, and security

The architectural viewpoints and perspectives presented in the book also provide a valuable long-term reference source for new and experienced architects alike.

Whether you are an aspiring or practicing software architect, you will find yourself referring repeatedly to the practical advice in this book throughout the lifecycle of your projects.

A supporting Web site containing further information can be found at www.viewpoints-and-perspectives.info


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Network Processors : Architectures, Protocols and Platforms (Telecom Engineering) Review

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Network Processors : Architectures, Protocols and Platforms (Telecom Engineering) ReviewI read 'Network Processors' to learn more about this relatively new technology that is changing the way network security appliances are designed and deployed. Panos Lekkas' work seemed like the only book available that presented a broad, multi-vendor sweep of the network processor landscape. While the book has plenty of information to offer, I found it did not really live up to my expectations.
Network processors are specialized computing chips built for high performance packet processing applications. I hoped 'Network Processors' would spend a good amount of time making the case for this technology, explaining why NPs are indispensable compared to general purpose CPUs. Unfortunately, I felt the book did not make a compelling case. Chapter 2, titled 'Network Processors: Justification,' is only 10 pages, with a single chart graphing bandwidth demand vs time. I would have liked to see head-to-head comparisons of NPs against CPUs for various network applications. The book spends a lot of time discussing technologies and concepts at the periphery of NPs; I think some of that space could have been put to better use.
Here is an example of why I felt let down by this book. In the preface, the author seems to assure the reader that he will answer questions others tend to ignore. On p. xix the author writes 'In numerous industry discussions, I have encountered experienced software engineers who have implemented cutting-edge protocols, but have no idea what concepts such as scheduling, backpressure, switching fabrics, and classification mean.' To be fair, the author does explain switching fabrics and classification. However, he says almost nothing about backpressure, and he certainly never explicitly defines it; the only mention is on p. 274.
Elsewhere, I thought the book was unnecessarily confusing. It's fine to cover deep technical details, but it helps to start with clear general definitions and progress to more difficult material. The following excerpt from p. 220, the second page of chapter 12, serves as part of the 'introduction' to content addressable memory: 'The principle of associative memory is based on the inverse mechanism of establishing a relationship between the input and a specific piece of information stored in the memory array.' This sentence is fine if the reader knows what 'associative memory' is, understands the 'inverse mechanism,' and can relate to 'the input' and a 'memory array.'
The layout of the book itself may have contributed to my difficulty with it. The font is one of the smallest I have ever encountered. The footnotes are so small as to be almost illegible. I like the hardcover binding, though.
Although not the author's fault, readers should be aware that many of the companies and some of the technologies in 'Network Processors' have disappeared. Each time I encountered a new company or product I checked to see if their Web page or product line still existed. For example, IBM's PowerNP receives an entire chapter; it was sold to Hifn in January 2004. In many cases, however, surviving vendors have not brought too many products to market since the book's late 2002 publication date.
I believe a second edition of 'Network Processors' would benefit from an editor who challenges the author to be more organized and generous with his audience. The book was built on a good idea -- bringing knowledge of NPs to general readers. A second edition should ensure that goal is met, since we do need to know more about this promising technology.Network Processors : Architectures, Protocols and Platforms (Telecom Engineering) OverviewNetwork processing units (NPUs) will be the occasion of sweeping changes in the network hardware industry over the next few years. This new breed of microchip impacts chip designers like Intel, equipment vendors like Cisco, application developers like IBM and Morotola, and an army of software engineers who spent the last decade working on protocols and network management solutions. A thoroughly practical dissection of the early NPU market, this designer's guide explains how network processors work and provides detailed information on all major commercial architectures, from features to design considerations. Comparative tables are a rich source of cross-industry info. Coverage includes traffic managers, classification chips, content-addressable memories, switch fabrics, security accelerators, storage coprocessors and NetASICs.

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