The software architecture mapping framework for managing architectural knowledge

Abstract

Within a software architecture design (SAD) project, designers deal with software design artifacts (SDAs) such as scenarios, patterns, and tactics. Each SDA has its unique issues and related architectural knowledge (AK) that may threaten the success of a project. This paper introduces the Software Architecture Mapping (SAM) framework to manage AK and associated issues by using finer-grained SDAs and networks of weighted arguments. These networks of data may be used to produce quantitative information in multi-dimensional views to facilitate the identification of critical SDAs and issues in a project. This paper illustrates how the SAM framework has been used to manage AK related to the template method (TM) design pattern in the context of an academic case study.