Chapter 5. An Architecture-Centric Process

This chapter defines architecture and explains why it plays a central role in the Rational Unified Process.

The Importance of Models

A large part of the Rational Unified Process focuses on modeling. Models help us understand and shape both the problem and the solution. A model is a simplification of reality that helps us master a large, complex system that cannot be comprehended easily in its entirety. The choice of models and the choice of techniques used to express them have a profound effect on the way we think about the problem and shape the solution. The model is not the reality (“the map is not the territory”[1]), but the best models are the ones that stick very close to reality.[2]

No single model ...

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