After completing the course, the student shall

- display knowledge of software architecture and its relevance to product development
- demonstrate comprehension of the influences on software architecture
- demonstrate comprehension of the different methods of describing software architecture
- demonstrate awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the software architect.

- demonstrate skills of applying architectural thinking to software product design
- demonstrate skills of defining and assessing a specific software architecture

- demonstrate ability to apply architectural thinking to software product design
- demonstrate ability to determine an appropriate level of software design documentation.

The course introduces the principles that can be applied to the architectural design of a software product, looking at modularity and layering across the spectrum of application types.

The course includes the following topics:
- Software architecture – its definition, key concepts and importance
- The role of the software architect
- Architectural stakeholders, viewpoints and perspectives
- Architectural styles, categories and the use of patterns
- Software interoperability and interfacing standards
- Reference architectures, architecture description languages and architectural standards
- Modelling, prototyping and evaluating a software architecture
- Design disclosure and documenting a software architecture
- Specifying the development infrastructure
- Software architecture in context:
System-on-a-Chip
Parallel processing and multi-threaded systems
Model Driven Architecture and automatic code generation
Software product lines, architecture recovery and architecture properties
Agile development and the relevance of design
Enterprise applications and their architectures

The course will consist of lectures, seminars, exercises and practical work.

The teaching is conducted in English.

Passed courses 180 credits in first cycle, at least 90 credits within the major subject Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering (with relevant courses in Computer Engineering), and 15 credits Mathematics. In addition, completed courses Industrial Product Realization – Process-Methods-Leadership, 9 credits, Software Engineering – a Product Perspective, 9 credits, Engineering of Socio-technical Systems, 6 credits (or the equivalent). Proof of English proficiency is required. (or the equivalent).

The course is graded 5,4,3 or Fail.

The final grade for the course is based upon a balanced set of assessments. The final grade will only be issued after satisfactory completion of all assessments.

Name of the Test	Value	Grading
Examination	3 credits	5/4/3/U
Assignments	1.5 credits	5/4/3/U
Laboratory work and project work	3 credits	U/G

Exemption from entry requirement allowed according to the selection groups of the program, where the course is included.

The literature list for the course will be provided one month before the course starts.

Main textbook:
Title: Software Systems Architecture: Working With Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives
Author: Nick Rozanski & Eóin Woods
Publisher: Addison Wesley, 2011, 2nd Edition.

Additional literature:
Title: Lean Architecture: For Agile Software Development
Author: James Coplien & Gertrud Bjornvig,
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Title: Domain-driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software
Author: Eric Evans,
Publisher: Addison Wesley, 2003.

Title: Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
Author: Martin Fowler,
Publisher: Addison Wesley, 2002.