George Fairbanks - Just Enough Software Architecture: A Risk-Driven Approach

If youre going to read only one book on software architecture, start with this one. Just Enough Software Architecture covers the essential concepts of software architecture that everyone programmers, developers, testers, architects, and managers needs to know, and it provides pragmatic advice that can be put into practice within hours of reading.

Michael Keeling, professional software engineer

This book reflects the authors rare mix of deep knowledge of software architecture concepts and extensive industry experience as a developer. If youre an architect, you will want the developers in your organization to read this book. If youre a developer, do read it. The book is about architecture in real (not ideal) software projects. It describes a context that youll recognize and then it shows you how to improve your design practice in that context.

Paulo Merson, practicing software architect and Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute

Fairbanks focus on just enough architecture should appeal to any developers trying to work out how to make the architecting process tractable. This focus is made accessible through detailed examples and advice that illustrate how an understanding of risk can be used to manage architecture development and scope. At the same time, Fairbanks provides detail on the more academic aspects of software architecture, which should help developers who are interested in understanding the broader theory and practice to apply these concepts to their projects.

Dr. Bradley Schmerl, Senior Systems Scientist, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

The Risk-Driven Model approach described in George Fairbanks Just Enough Software Architecture has been applied to the eXtensible Information Modeler (XIM) project here at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) with much success. Georges approach illustrated to the customer why the system was designed the way it was from its service layer, data-access layer, dependency injection support, and even its data architecture. The high-high quality attribute pairs that fell out of the architecture process justified the tasks, schedule, and cost of the project. The modeling constructs have helped communicate the architecture among all team members and even to prospective new customers. The architecture has allowed the XIM project to be a success here at JSC and it can help your project be a success as well. It is a must for all members of the project, from project management to individual developers. In fact, it is a must for every developers tool belt. The Code Model section and the anti-patterns alone are worth the cost of the book!

Christopher Dean, Chief Architect, XIM, Engineering Science Contract Group NASA Johnson Space Center

Just Enough Software Architecture will coach you in the strategic and tactical application of the tools and strategies of software architecture to your software projects. The first contribution of this book is a insightful guide that will help you identify the driving characteristics of your project and develop goals, value propositions, and implementation strategies for the role of architectural modeling in your project. Dr. Fairbanks goes on to provide clear instruction in the tactics and the tools of architectural modeling that will enable you to achieve your goals for the overall project. Whether you are a developer or an architect, this book is a solid foundation and reference for your architectural endeavors.

Nicholas Sherman, Program Manager, Microsoft

George Fairbanks outstanding new book Just Enough Software Architecture distills the best of the latest architecture research to provide clear, concrete, practical and actionable advice for application architects ready to take the plunge and leverage new architecture best practices to improve their applications.

Fairbanks synthesizes the latest thinking on process, lifecycle, architecture, modeling, and quality of service into a coherent framework that is of immediate applicability to IT applications. Fairbanks writing is exceptionally clear and precise while remaining engaging and highly readable. Just Enough Software Architecture is an important contribution to the IT application architecture literature and may well become a standard reference work for enterprise application architects.

Dr. Ian Maung, Senior VP of Enterprise Architecture at Citigroup and former Director of Enterprise Architecture at Covance

This book directly tackles some key needs of software practitioners who seek that blend of tools to help them create more effective systems, more effectively. George reaches frequently into his own experience, combining important ideas from academia to provide a conceptual model, selected best practices from industry to broaden coverage, and pragmatic guidance to make software architectures that are ultimately more useful and realistic. His simple risk-based approach frames much of the book and helps calibrate what just-enough should be. This book is an important addition to any software architecture bookshelf.

Desmond DSouza, Author of MAp and Catalysis, Kinetium, Inc.

This book shows how software architecture helps you build software instead of distracting from the job; the book lets you identify and address only those critical architectural concerns that would otherwise prevent you from writing code.

Dr. Kevin Bierhoff, professional software engineer

Just Enough Software Architecture delivers on its promise it captures and concisely conveys to designers of software-intensive systems just what they need to know about todays (sadly) buzzword-laden minefield of software architecture.

The risk-driven model of software architecture introduced by Fairbanks in this book gives you practical tools to tackle tough design trade-offs, effectively communicate your decisions, and accomplish your goal to ship working software. I can almost see Fairbanks marching around JavaOne or PDC with a sign that states, Software architecture is for everyone!

The presentation is brisk, and the examples are frequent and interesting. This is a worthy book, a joy to read, and one I wish I had earlier in my career to help me avoid making so many mistakes! It is deserving of a place on your shelf if you want become a better software designer.

Dr. Timothy J. Halloran, Director of Engineering at SureLogic Inc.

System and software developers questioning why and where about software architecture will appreciate the clear arguments and enlightening analogies this book presents; developers struggling with when and how to do architecture will discover just-enough guidance, along with concepts and ideas that clarify, empower, and liberate. All in all, this book is easy to read, concise, yet rich with references a well-architected and finely-designed book!

Dr. Shang-Wen Cheng, flight software engineer

Many designations used by sellers and manufacturers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. In cases where Marshall & Brainerd is aware of a claim, the designations appear in initial capital or all capital letters.

The author and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book but no warranty of any kind is expressed or implied. The author and publisher assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, nor do they assume any liability for incidental or consequential damages connected with or arising out of the use of the content of this book.

Published by Marshall & Brainerd
2445 7th Street
Boulder, CO 80304
(303) 834-7760

Copyright 2010 George Fairbanks

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.