Enforcing Architectural Design Compliance in Software Development
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Solution Overview
Problem
Software developers often deviate from the architectural design during the development process, leading to code that does not comply with the intended design, resulting in inconsistencies and potential errors.
Innovation Solution
Extracting computable rules from architectural designs or codebases to enforce compliance throughout the development process, including check-ins, builds, and runtime, using an enforcement tool that converts and analyzes source code and design intent into an intermediate format for graph analysis and feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If developers work quickly to deliver the product, then productivity is improved, but architectural compliance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts computable rules from the architectural design in advance, before development begins. These rules are then automatically applied during code check-ins and builds, allowing rapid development while maintaining architectural compliance through pre-established guidelines.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides automatic feedback to developers when code violations are detected during check-in or build processes. This real-time feedback mechanism allows developers to correct architectural compliance issues immediately, maintaining both productivity and design adherence.
2Manufacturing precision
If architects provide detailed design specifications, then design precision is improved, but developer flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The architectural design is segmented into discrete, computable rules that can be automatically extracted and enforced. This segmentation allows precise architectural guidance while giving developers flexibility in implementing specific solutions, as long as the fundamental architectural rules are followed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms architectural design specifications into parameterized computable rules with configurable weights and priorities. This allows the architecture to maintain precision while adapting to different development contexts and requirements through adjustable parameters.
3Reliability
If automated compliance checking is implemented, then architectural enforcement is improved, but development process complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically extracts computable rules from existing architectural designs and applies them during standard development workflows. The enforcement mechanism serves itself by integrating into existing tools like version control and build systems, adding reliability without requiring separate complex processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary layer between existing development tools and architectural compliance requirements. By integrating with standard workflows like check-in and build processes, it enforces architecture without adding significant complexity to the development process.
Data Source
AI summary
Architectural design intent for software is represented in some type of concrete form. A set of computable rules are inferred from the representation of the architectural design intent. The rules are applied to the codebase at various points in the development process including but not limited to when source code is checked into a project or when a build is run, or when a test run is performed. If the codebase being developed is not consistent with the architectural intent of the designer as captured, feedback concerning non-compliance is provided.