Software development process Activities and steps Requirements · Architecture Design · Implementation Testing · Deployment Models Agile · Cleanroom · Iterative · RAD RUP · Spiral · Waterfall · XP · Scrum Supporting disciplines Configuration management Documentation Quality assurance (SQA) Project management User experience design This box: view • talk • edit The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of deployment of the system, which comprise software components, the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them. The term also refers to documentation of a system's software architecture. Documenting software architecture facilitates communication between stakeholders, documents early decisions about high-level design, and allows reuse of design components and patterns between projects.[1] Contents 1 Background 2 History 3 Describing architectures 3.1 Architecture description languages 3.2 Views 3.3 Architecture frameworks 3.4 The distinction from detailed design 4 Examples of Architectural Styles / Patterns 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links