Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory, and Practice Book Review

The is the book is by far the most textbookiest (new word?) books I have bought on Software Architecture. That is a good thing. It means that Software Architecture is becoming main stream enough that it is now offered as a college course topic along with other software engineering topics. Enough so that books are being written in a format intended solely for that purpose. This book does a great job of covering a wide range of topics. It goes deep enough into each one of them to give the reader a great foundational understanding. At first I was a little leery of their use of the ArchStudio tool suite, but the further I got in the book and the more I used the tool I could see the value it has in the architecture process. The tool really brings to light the connections between system components and forces a component based design. One of my favorite chapters is the Connectors chapter. The way they visually present their variation dimensions is really cool. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but the book has a unique presentation that I haven’t seen in other architecture books. I am not referring to how the material is arranged. I am referring to the material presented. I like it. It seems to bring to light all the topics in software architecture that are important, but they are explained in a unique enough way that it doesn’t feel like your learning the same thing you learned in the last software architecture book. I read every book that comes out on the topic of software architecture for two reasons. The hope of learning something new, and to remind myself of all the things I have to keep in the forefront of my thinking, kind of a mental exercise. This book makes it easy to get my mental exercise. The authors have a good writing style that makes the material easy to get through. The only downside to this book is that you have to be a teacher to get access to the additional material the authors offer. It would be nice if they allowed anyone who has purchased the book access. I recommend this book for the beginner, as well as the experienced, software architect. It is a must read.