Chapter 5. Reusable Architecture Assets

The life of a software architect is a long and rapid succession of suboptimal design decisions taken partly in the dark. (Kruchten 1999)

The purpose of this chapter is to shed some light on the darkness by discussing a key characteristic of successful software architectures: the use of reusable assets. Reusable assets provide a valuable vehicle for capitalizing on the work of other successful architects, from fine-grained design patterns to large-grained off-the-shelf packaged applications.

However, consideration of reusable assets can itself be a mine field. You have many types of assets to consider, and it is not always clear what each of them means and the value it provides. What is the difference ...

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