Parallel Refinement of Architecture and Requirements
In projects involving many parties – such as agile projects with several teams – it’s essential that everyone have a shared understanding of the architecture. This means that early on decisions need to be made about the system’s underlying structure. Here it can be useful to specify and refine requirements and system architecture simultaneously (with the Twin Peaks Model). In objectiF RM requirements diagrams are used to visualize the refinement of requirements. For refining system architecture, you’ll find class diagrams, package diagrams and block diagrams from UML/SysML.
Parallel refinement of requirements and system architecture with the use of models looks like this: block diagrams that describe aspects of the architecture can be referenced in requirements diagrams and connected with requirements using <> relationships.
Traceability from Requirements to Architecture
Block diagrams in objectiF RPM can be used equally well for:
- representing the macro architecture – the big picture of the system
- designing the micro architecture – for example, service-oriented applications
In block diagrams, system elements can be put into a direct relationship with the requirements they fulfill. Each one of these relationships leaves a “trace” for requirements traceability. Preconfigured real-time analyses can be used to show at any time which requirements are met by which system elements.
<> relationships are used in block diagrams to visualize the relationship between requirements and system elements. Analyses, such as the one shown here, make it possible to trace refinements to their requirements and to see at which level of refinement requirements are met.
Interface to Development
objectiF RM can be set up for specific technology stacks to support development teams all the way to implementation. When this is done, implementation files are managed in objectiF RM. This creates optimal traceability from requirements all the way to implementation. Alternatively, objectiF RM also offers interfaces for exchanging requirements with other environments, such as Jira.
This preconfigured query in objectiF RM gives an overview of all system elements and the implementation files that belong to them.
Ensuring Architectural Longevity
Are the quality requirements for the developed system still being met after a maintenance phase? objectiF RM allows you to check by creating test scenarios for quality requirements in the form of test cases. These test cases can then be bundled in test set executions that can be repeated regularly.
This method supports the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) for evaluating software architecture.
With objectiF RM you can regularly check the quality properties of the software architecture during the software lifecycle.
