Tuesday, November 22, 2005
What is Software Architecture?
There have been some many interpretations and definitions of software architecture. I will attempt to document definitions that I have come across here for reference.
The Unified Modeling Language User Guide - "Architecture is a set of significant decisions about:
- The organisation of a software system.
- The selection of the structural elements and their interfaces by which they system is composed.
- Their behavior, as specified in the collaborations among those elements.
- The composition of these structural and behavioral elements into progressively larger subsystems.
- The architectural style that guides this organisation : the static and dynamic elements and their interfaces, their collaborations, and their composition."
Architecture-Centric Software Project Management - "Software architecture is concerned with capturing the structures of a system and the relationships among the elements ... The structures we found fell into several broad categories: conceptual architecture, module architecture, execution architecture, and code architecture."
Beyond Software Architecture - "A system architecture defines the basic 'structure' of the system (e.g. the high-level modules comprising the major functions of the system , the management and distribution of data, the kind and style of its user interface, what platform(s) will it run on, and so forth"
Beyond Software Architecture - "A system architecture defines the basic 'structure' of the system (e.g. the high-level modules comprising the major functions of the system , the management and distribution of data, the kind and style of its user interface, what platform(s) will it run on, and so forth"
Principles of Modeling
- The choice of what models to create has a profound influence on how a problem is attacked and how a solution is shaped.
- Every model may be expressed at different levels of precision.
- The best models are connected to reality.
- No single model is sufficient. Every nontrivial system is best approached through a small set of nearly independent models.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Mean and Standard Deviation Calculation
I was reading up on PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique), one of the technqiues in estimating efforts in WBS (work breakdown structure). It appears that there is much more to estimation than just ball-park guesses.
I will share my lessons learnt on PERT later; however it appears the following are relevant lessons that needs to be learnt, as they are applied in PERT calculations.
I will share my lessons learnt on PERT later; however it appears the following are relevant lessons that needs to be learnt, as they are applied in PERT calculations.
Standard deviations is very important in PM estimations. One of the usage is in knowing the risk level of estimates. For example, I have the following sample of WBS:
Work Estimated Effort Std Deviations
Module A 20 man-days 1.0
Module B 20 man-days 2.0
What this means is that although both tasks are estimated to take 20 man-days to complete. Module B has a higher risk level as the higher deviation means that the actual effort is in the range of 20 man-days +/- 96%, as compared to Module A's 65%.
Work Estimated Effort Std Deviations
Module A 20 man-days 1.0
Module B 20 man-days 2.0
What this means is that although both tasks are estimated to take 20 man-days to complete. Module B has a higher risk level as the higher deviation means that the actual effort is in the range of 20 man-days +/- 96%, as compared to Module A's 65%.
Monday, November 07, 2005
ORCAS - Next Version of Visual Studio
Now that Whidbey is released, Microsoft is already starting prototyping of next version of Visual Studio, codenamed ORCAS.
Other than on tools, seems like there is strong emphasis on processes. There is the MSF template in include in the VS Team Systems (VSTS). I think we can expect more process templates to be included in the future.
"...offerings will likely not be "just about the tools," but also about the process and the approach enterprises might take to threat modeling and related issues."
Other than on tools, seems like there is strong emphasis on processes. There is the MSF template in include in the VS Team Systems (VSTS). I think we can expect more process templates to be included in the future.
"...offerings will likely not be "just about the tools," but also about the process and the approach enterprises might take to threat modeling and related issues."
SQL Server 2005 Takes On Enterprise Data Market
Finally, the much anticipated SQL Server 2005 is about to be released. Does this mean that Microsoft will take over Oracle and IBM in terms of enterprise level RDMBS? Already, there seems to be very good response, and one survey says that many are keen to migrate over.
If this does indeed happen, what this means is that there will be a sharp increase for demand of professionals trained in SQL Server 2005.
If this does indeed happen, what this means is that there will be a sharp increase for demand of professionals trained in SQL Server 2005.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Search Capabilities - The Next Thing to Look Out For
Google partners with IBM for corporate desktop search program. The cooperation aims to produce searching capabilities for unmanaged files like Word documents, images and managed data in corporate databases.
IT growth has created the problem of finding relevant information amidst the information overload. Now the search engines are becoming smarter and broader in terms of types of searchable items. This will definitely mean better information accessibility, and higher productivity.
IT growth has created the problem of finding relevant information amidst the information overload. Now the search engines are becoming smarter and broader in terms of types of searchable items. This will definitely mean better information accessibility, and higher productivity.
