Usage o a chi ec u al s yles and echnologies in IT
companies and o ganiza ions
Da id Amelle and Xa ie F anch
Uni e si a Poli ècnica de Ca alunya (UPC)
{damelle , anch}@lsi.upc.edu
As in many o he so wa e enginee ing ac i i ies, Non-Func ional Requi emen s (NFR) a e
undamen al in he p ocess o selec ion o he a chi ec u al s yle and he echnologies o
de eloping a so wa e sys em. To know mo e abou his issue, we a e cu en ly d i ing a su ey
o ind ou which a chi ec u al s yles and echnologies a e being in use in IT companies and
o ganiza ions, and hei ela ion o ypes o NFR. We wan o apply his knowledge o Model-
D i en So wa e De elopmen (MDSD), and in ac we a e cu en ly de eloping a amewo k
ha conside s NFR in he MDSD p ocess.
The su ey is a ailable in he ollowing URL: h p://www.lsi.upc.edu/~dsdm-su ey.
De elopmen o he su ey: The su ey has been de eloped ollowing an i e a i e
me hodology. A each i e a ion, i has been e ised by IT expe s and esea che s o he a ea.
The e ha e been h ee i e a ions, he i s one in plain ex and he o he wo using he cu en
elec onic o ma . I was di icul o ind good (and cheap) so wa e o de eloping su eys;
inally, we chose LimeSu ey, which is ee open sou ce so wa e (FOSS).
Fo he dissemina ion o he su ey we a e using mainly wo s a egies. On he one hand,
pe sonal con ac wi h so wa e a chi ec s ha we know pe sonally. On he second hand,
ad e isemen in IT communi ies hos ed in common si es such as LinkedIn and Facebook. In
his i s s age, we ha e con ac ed 7 so wa e a chi ec s and ad e ised in he In e na ional
Associa ion o So wa e A chi ec s g oup and we plan o do he same in o he simila g oups.
Design o he su ey: The su ey is di ided in o h ee pa s: i s , common ques ions abou
so wa e de elopmen ; second, ques ions abou he deg ee o desi ed in e ac ion wi h
de elopmen ools; and hi d, ques ions abou he usage and knowledge o MDSD. The hi d
pa o he su ey is d i en in h ee di e en ways depending on he knowledge o he
esponden s.
In he i s pa o he su ey we ha e asked abou he used a chi ec u al s yles, he ype o
de eloped applica ions, he echnological s yles used in hem, ques ions abou he use o da a
base managemen sys ems (DBMS), and inally ques ions abou NFR.
The second pa consis s o wo ques ions abou he desi able in e ac ion o a hypo he ical
de elopmen ool. The i s ques ion is abou code gene a ion and he second is abou design
decisions.
Finally, in he hi d pa he su ey may ake h ee di e en pa hs. I he esponden doesn’
know he concep o MDSD, he su ey inishes. I he/she knows he concep bu doesn’ use
MDSD in his/he p ojec s, we ask abou his/he knowledge abou MDSD, namely abou he
known ini ia i es, de elopmen amewo ks, and se e al ques ions o ind ou his/he opinion
abou MDSD. I he/she is using MDSD in his/he p ojec s, we ask abou he usage o MDSD. I
is in e es ing o see in he hi d case i hey a e using di e en a chi ec u al s yles o
echnologies when hey de elop so wa e using MDSD.
Cu en s a us: We ha e, a he ime o w i ing, 56 esponses o he su ey. We ha e planed o
wai un il we ha e a leas 100 esponses be o e he publica ion o he esul s. As a p e iew, we
ha e seen he ollowing endencies in he cu en esponses.
F om he a chi ec u al poin o iew, mo e han he 65% o esponden s use 3-laye ed o MVC
a chi ec u al s yles ollowed by clien -se e (51%) and SOA (46%). The mos common ype o
applica ion is Web-based (75%) ollowed by Web Se ices (58%).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
None Ma ginal Medium Impo an C i ical No answe
Main ainabili y
Reusabili y
E iciency
Reliabili y
Usabili y
Po abili y
Cos
S anda ds compliance
O ganiza ional
Fig. 1: impo ance o di e en ypes o NFR in so wa e p ojec s
F om he echnological poin o iew Ja a-based echnologies a e used by a 75% o
esponden s. Only 21% decla e o be using .Ne -based echnologies, which looks a bi s ange
because many so wa e de elopmen companies cu en ly announce ha hey de elop in .Ne
(may be his ac will be educed on he inal esul s), and he leas used is s ack solu ion (e.g.
LAMP) wi h 14%. JSP is he mos used Ja a echnology (57%), bu also a signi ican amoun o
esponden s use S u s (48%) o Se le s (48%).
When we alk abou DBMS, ela ional da abases a e, as expec ed, he mos used (88%), being
O acle (69%), SQL-Se e (33%), and MySQL (32%) a e he mos widesp ead b ands. I is a bi
su p ising ha MySQL is used only by 32% o esponden s while 77% a e de eloping Web-
based applica ions. The only DBMS- ela ed mechanism ha has a ele an amoun o
impo ance is s o ed p ocedu es (39% o esponden s hink ha s o ed p ocedu es a e impo an
o e en c i ical in hei applica ions), whils igge s and checks ha e e y li le impo ance
(80% app oxima ely o esponden s epo ha hese mechanisms ha e no o li le impo ance
o hem).
The impo ance o NFR is no e y clea , we ha e ound a di ision o opinions: while 96% o
esponden s conside NFR (73% a he same le el as unc ional equi emen s), only 57% use
NFR o ake a chi ec u al and echnological decisions. In he Fig. 1 we ha e summa ized he
epo ed impo ance o each indi idual NFR. We can see ha he equi emen s such as
main ainabili y, eusabili y, e iciency, eliabili y, and usabili y ha e a endency o being mo e
impo an han po abili y, cos , s anda d compliance, and o ganiza ional NFR.
When we pu NFR in o p ac ice, 80% o esponden s do no use de elopmen ools ha analyze
he NFR compliance, bu 70% would like o use such kind o ools.
In he second pa o he su ey (ques ions abou in e ac ion) he mos accep ed answe o all
ques ions is ha de elope s wan o be asked, bu only o he mos impo an decisions. This
answe can be ela ed wi h he iew o MDSD no as a ully au oma ic p ocess bu as an assis ed
one, in which some decisions a e aken by he expe .
A g ea pa o he esponden s (79%) do no use MDSD in hei so wa e p ojec s, so i is
di icul o ca y ou a good e alua ion o his pa o he su ey a his momen . On he o he
hand, 50% o hem decla e o know he concep . Eclipse EMP seems o be he mos known
pla o m o MDSD and MDA he mos known me hodology.
This was an o e iew o he cu en answe s o he su ey, o he inal epo on i we will do a
deepe s a is ical da a analysis. Fo example, we will analyze o each a chi ec u al s yle o
echnological s yle ( hese e ms a e de ined in he su ey) which a e he mos impo an NFR.
Conclusions: This su ey can be seen as a pa icula ins umen ha add esses some o he
ques ions aised in he EASA’09 c p. Ou posi ion is ha a way o ob ain empi ical e idence
abou he cu en s a e o so wa e a chi ec u es usage in IT companies and o ganiza ions is
asking he in ol ed ac o s.