ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 - Architecture Description
This standard provides a framework for creating, evaluating, and comparing architecture descriptions. It establishes a common language and conceptual foundation for expressing, communicating, and reviewing system, software, and enterprise architectures.
A central theme of the standard is the distinction between an architecture (the fundamental concepts or properties of an entity) and an architecture description (the work product used to express an architecture).
Key Concepts
The standard defines several key concepts to ensure that architecture descriptions are clear, complete, and fit for their purpose:
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Architecture Description (AD) | A collection of artifacts that document an architecture. |
| Entity of Interest (EoI) | The system, software, enterprise, or other entity whose architecture is being described. |
| Stakeholders | Individuals, teams, or organizations with an interest in the Entity of Interest. |
| Concerns | The interests that stakeholders have in the Entity of Interest, such as performance, security, or maintainability. |
| Viewpoint | A specification for constructing a single view. It defines the stakeholders, concerns, and modeling techniques to be used. |
| View | A representation of the architecture from the perspective of a particular viewpoint. |
| Architecture Decision | A key choice made during the design of the architecture. The standard requires that decisions and their rationale be documented. |
| Architecture Rationale | The justification for architectural decisions, linking them to stakeholder concerns and other requirements. |
Importance for Quality
ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 helps improve quality by:
- Improving Communication: Providing a common vocabulary and structure for architecture descriptions, reducing ambiguity and misunderstanding among stakeholders.
- Ensuring Completeness: Requiring that stakeholder concerns are explicitly addressed in the architecture description.
- Enhancing Traceability: Making the relationships between stakeholder concerns, architecture decisions, and the resulting architecture explicit.
- Facilitating Analysis and Evaluation: Enabling systematic review of the architecture against requirements and concerns.