1.4 Summary

In this chapter, we showed that architecture is more than the result of the functional requirements for a system. It is equally the result of the architect's background, the technical environment within which the architect lives, and the sponsoring organization's business goals. The architecture in turn influences the environment that spawned it by adding its presence to the technical environment and by giving the business new marketing possibilities. We introduced the Architecture Business Cycle as the motif for this book, but the reader should be aware that the ABC as described here will be extended in later chapters.

Finally, we posited a set of rules of thumb that generally lead to successful architectures.

Next, we turn our attention to software architecture, per se.