A study of architectural decision practices

Abstract

Architectural decisions shape a software architecture and determine its ability to meet its requirements. To better understand architectural decisions in practice, we interviewed developers at two organizations. The results revealed that architectural decisions often become technology decisions, which are in turn influenced by both technical and social factors. Meetings and knowledge repositories help to communicate architectural decisions, but code reviews are ultimately necessary to ensure conformance. Costly changes to architectural decisions are caused by the discovery of an Achilles' heel, an important scenario that cannot be supported by an architectural decision. These findings suggest an important need for social development tools that help developers more easily and successfully share valuable technology knowledge and more effectively make technology choices.