Introduction

This book contains a glossary of software architecture terminology.

It can serve as a reference for preparation for the iSAQB e.V. examination Certified Professional for Software Architecture - Foundation Level©.

Please be aware: This glossary is not intended to be a primer or course book on software architecture, just a collection of definitions (and links to further information).

Furthermore, you find proposals for translations of the iSAQB terminology, currently between English and German (and vice-versa).

Finally this book contains numerous references to books and other resources, many of which we quoted in the definitions.

This book is work in progress.

Errors or omissions can also be reported in our issue tracker on Github, where the authors maintain the original sources for this book.

Personal Comments

Several of the terms contained in this book have been commented by one or several authors:

Terms Can Be Referenced

All terms in the glossary have unique URLs to the (free) online version of the book, therefore they can be universally referenced, both from online- and print documentation.

Our URL scheme is quite simple:

  • The base URL is https://leanpub.com/isaqbglossary/read
  • We just add the prefix #term- in front of the term to be referenced, then the term itself, with hyphens (“-“) instead of blanks.

    For example our description of the term software architecture can be referenced (hyperlinked) with https://leanpub.com/isaqbglossary/read#term-software-architecture

Nearly all terms are hyperlinked with their full names, with very few examples that are referenced by their (common) abbreviations, like UML or DDD.

License

This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The following is only a brief summary and no substitution for the real license.

The cc-4.0-by license means that you might:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
  • The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

You must:

  • Give appropriate credit,
  • Provide a link to the license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)), and
  • Indicate if (and which) changes were made with respect to the original.

Acknowledgements

Several parts of this glossary have been contributed by the following volunteers and sponsors:

  • The definitions of about 120 terms have been donated by Gernot Starke, originally compiled for one of his books.
  • A number of definitions in context of system improvement and evolution was contributed by the aim42 open source project.

Contributing

Your input is highly appreciated by the authors.

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Glossary of Terms