The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition | Mark W. Maier, Eberhardt Rechtin

The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition | Mark W. Maier, Eberhardt Rechtin | Deep

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The Art of Systems...

	The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition Mark W. Maier, Eberhardt Rechtin CRC, 2000 - 344 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Today's architecting must handle systems of types unknown until very recently. New domains, including personal computers, intersatellite networks, health services, and joint service command and control are calling for new architectures-and for architects specializing in those domains. Since the original publication, of this bestselling text, these new and emerging fields have contributed architectural concepts and tools of their own to the relatively new formalism-and evolving profession-called Systems Architecting. The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition restates and extends into the future the classical architecting paradigm, incorporating the most broadly applicable of these contributions. It remains the most innovative, insightful treatment available to the discipline, providing both the academic and the industrial communities with the up-to-date tools, concepts, and techniques needed to conceive and build complex systems.

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Defining Architecting

Review: This is a great overview of the subject of systems architecture. It is already highly regarded in the systems engineering community. It is rich in useful detail. It gives a comprehensive historical view of the discipline. I found a large number of specific insights about the nature of architecture as opposed to engineering. The collection of over 180 heuristics is an interesting framework for the text. I can highly recommend it as a study to both novices and seasoned professionals. The guest chapters on political process and systems architecting (Brenda Forman), and The Professionalization of Systems Architecting (Elliot Axelbrand) are both valuable additions to the immense vocabulary of the authors.
If I have one quibble it is that the book correctly insists on quantification of performance attributes as the only proper basis for architecture, certification, and engineering. But it so often denies the measurability of so called `soft' values - and remarkably includes things like `safety', and `environmental impact' in that category. I fear that setting too high a standard for quantification leaves us with mere ambiguous words. This of course is a widespread problem. I disagree, and will take up the discussion with the authors and the community - as I already have done. In addition I find a complete lack of examples, or discussion, about how `multiple performance and cost attributes' can be used by the architectural level to understand the architectural problem. There are far too many non-quantified models, and far too little insight as to how a systems architect would deal with the quantified attribute requirements of a system. Maybe in the 3rd Edition?
Tom@Gilb.com, August 24 2002.

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Deep

This book is probably the most abstract one on my Software Architecture bookshelf right now. Each page in this book takes twice as long to read as a page from any of my other, more technical architecture books. Another book might say "Use UML, everyone else does"; while this book says "Given a particular model set and language, it will be easy to describe some types of systems and awkward to describe others [...]".

Time spent reading this book is a good investment in my opinion, but only if you read it at a moderate pace and reflect. The listing and discussion of heuristics is especially valuable. For example, "The greatest leverage in architecting is at the interfaces" is a good heuristic and the book has an appendix full of them. Not only that, this book offers good discussions of what each heuristic means and why it applies.

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A overall view of the profession for those with architecting expertise

If you have questions as a practitioner of systems architecting about your overall architecting approach then I would highly recommend this text. I would also recommend this as a reference book for a systems architecting class at the advanced graduate level. It does provide a balanced view of the discipline for journeymen. The view is presented in multiple dimensions such as builder-architected, manufacturing systems, systems science, and social systems domains. The chapter on models and modeling is very useful to the beginning architect but is somewhat high level. The architecture frameworks chapter is outdated and is shallow. The integrated modeling methodologies (Hatley-Pirbhai, Q2FD) discussion is very brief, but has references for further reading. The section on the systems architecting profession causes the reader to think deeply about the profession.

If you are looking for a system architecting self-help cookbook, this isn't it. Although the appendix lists architecting heuristics, I doubt that those 12 pages alone would be worth the cost. The book will disappoint software-only system architects since much of it is clearly focused on software/hardware co-development and manufacturing systems development.

System architecting is still in its infancy, and this book provides a critical element to that profession's maturation. It identifies some of the domain's critical attributes, but fully understanding this text requires some system architecting background to apply what is being presented.

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Advice

A much better alternative: "Process for system architecture and requirements engineering."

Buy this book only if you have some money left.

A good start

I waited for a chance to use this book before writing a review. For the past two years, I use it only when I need words to describe to the lay person "What" System Architecting is. But for practical system architecting technique, this book won't get it for you.

reviews: page 1, 2

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