Feature analysis for architectural evaluation methods

Given the complexity of today's software systems, Software Architecture is a topic that has recently increased in significance. It is consider as a key element in the design and development of systems and has the ability to promote/punish some quality characteristics. Quality is related mainly to the non-functional requirements expected of the system. Using appropriate methods for Architectural Evaluation can help to reduce the risk of low quality Architecture. The objective of this research is to conduct a Features Analysis for three Architectural Evaluation Methods applied to a single case. This resulted in two significant contributions; the aspects which must be present in an architectural evaluation method which is translated in a set of 49 metrics, grouped into features and sub-features to enable the evaluation of a particular method. Different methods can be compared on the basis of these features; however, the choice of method will depend largely on the requirements of the evaluating team. The second contribution pinpoints the strengths of the methods evaluated. The methods studied were: Design and Use of Software Architectures, Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method, and Architectural Evaluation Method. The evaluation method employed for this research was Features Analysis Case Study.