17 Aug The architecture of a software application defines the system in terms of connections and modules among those modules
Post 1:
Veto Bishop
YesterdayJul 20 at 9:13pm
The architecture of a software application defines the system in terms of connections and modules among those modules (Hasselbring, 2018). Software architecture has a prominent role in all stages of the software development life cycle (Baabad et al., 2020). Software applications are directly dependent on their architectural design to ensure long-term use, proper evolution in a constantly changing execution environment, and efficient maintenance ( Venters et al., 2018).
The erosion of software architecture results in increased software maintenance costs, a reduction in software quality, and dilapidation of software performance (Wang & Li, 2019). Software architecture documentation is a very important aspect of architecture design (Keim et al., 2021).
The bible is replete with architectural examples like the temples, pyramids, and the wall of Jericho; however, I think one notable biblical architecture is the human’s faith in God. This may sound abstract or metaphysical, but we can agree that is so because we have always associated architecture with something that we can see. For the sake of our discussion, we will focus on “Faith in God” as a divine application. Scripture tells us “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” ( New International Version, 2020, Ephesians 2:8) and “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” ( King James Version, 2020, Hebrews 12:2). Therefore, we can conclude that God is the architecture of our faith.
Like any software architect, God prepares documentation for the application (Faith) that he has created. In the case of the software development world, this document is called software architecture documentation (SAD), but in the biblical world, it is referred to as the bible. Just as software documentation is important throughout all stages of the software development life cycle, so is the word of God to the Christian’s faith. To this fact, Jesus reminds us “ Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (New International Version, 2020, Matthew 4:4).
As stated earlier, software architecture defines a system in terms of connections and modules among those connections. The bible shares a similar definition if we are to look at it through the lenses of software engineering. No passage illustrates this better than John 15:15, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”(New International Version, 2020, John 15:5). We could view this passage as an object-oriented design of Faith where the human faith (child class) inherits the divine (parent class). This is all masterfully delineated in the divine architectural documents (the Bible).
Just as software architecture has quality attributes associated with the application being developed, the bible also lists quality attributes for the Christain’s Faith in God. The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Galatians reminds them of the attributes of Faith when he wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (New International Version, 2020, Galatians 5:22-23).
Faith is a divine application developed by the chief architect God and deployed to the human spirit platform. The documentation for this architecture is the word of God (the bible) and some use cases are Daniel delivered from the lion’s den ( Daniel 6:16-23), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ( Daniel 3:19-27), Elijah fed by ravens (1 kings 17:4-6), and Woman with the issue of blood healed (Matthew 9:20-22).
References
Baabad, A., Zulzalil, H. B., & Baharom, S. B. (2020). Software architecture degradation in open source software: A systematic literature review. IEEE Access, 8, 173681-173709.
Hasselbring, W. (2018). Software architecture: Past, present, future. In The Essence of Software Engineering (pp. 169-184). Springer, Cham.
Keim, J., Schulz, S., Fuchß, D., Kocher, C., Speit, J., & Koziolek, A. (2021, September). Trace Link Recovery for Software Architecture Documentation. In European Conference on Software Architecture (pp. 101-116). Springer, Cham.
King James Version Bible . (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
New International Version Bible . (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
Venters, C. C., Capilla, R., Betz, S., Penzenstadler, B., Crick, T., Crouch, S., … & Carrillo, C. (2018). Software sustainability: Research and practice from a software architecture viewpoint. Journal of Systems and Software, 138, 174-188.
Wang, T., & Li, B. (2019, July). Analyzing Software Architecture Evolvability Based on Multiple Architectural Attributes Measurements. In 2019 IEEE 19th International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability and Security (QRS) (pp. 204-215). IEEE.
Post 2:
Landon Smalley
8:31pmJul 21 at 8:31pm
Software design consists of several phases that share the same end goal – that is, they aim to produce a secure and valuable product. Software architecture is critical in the software’s design and development because, without a solid foundation, the software can ultimately fail. The program’s architecture is the foundation on which the program will function (Ingeno, 2018, p. 37). The Internet of Things (IoT) has grown exponentially over the past few decades. Today, millions of devices reside across the IoT at any given moment (Simmhan et al., 2018, p. 1390).
Architecture is essential to anything that someone builds. The product can be as complex as a skyscraper or as simple as a stool. In the Christian faith, one can argue that our faith is what sets the architecture for the way we live our lives. There are several mentions of the significance of architecture throughout God’s Word.
In software development, project teams consider the product’s architecture early in the development cycle and evaluate it throughout the project’s life. Likewise, our faith begins creating our lives’ architecture at the beginning of our lives. “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (New International Version Bible, 1973/2011, Proverbs 22:6). The blessing of parenthood brings the great responsibility to raise our kids in the Church. The act of praise early in life plants the seeds of faith that hope to grow throughout our lives. By growing up in the Church, we learn about God’s Word and begin to gain discernment of right and wrong.
Continuing in God’s Word, Matthew writes of the importance of placing our faith in the Lord, comparing it directly to the building of a house. To continue strengthening our lives’ architecture, we must continue to support our foundations of faith and godliness. If we follow God’s Word, we are protected on a firm foundation. However, if we depart from His teachings, we set ourselves up for destruction as storm waters – trials and tribulations – present times of hardship and despair (New International Version Bible, 1973/2011, Matthew 7:24-27).
Abraham and his sons lived by faith and set the example for Christ-like living. “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (New International Version Bible, 1973/2011, Hebrews 11:10). Abraham had faced trials and was tested. Fortunately, he continued to practice his faith and follow God’s instructions. As Christians, we live our lives in service to one another under God’s law, with the assurance that we will one day be united with Him in Glory.
References
Ingeno, J. (2018). Software architect’s handbook [VitalSource]. Packt.
Simmhan, Y., Ravindra, P., Chaturvedi, S., Hegde, M., & Ballamajalu, R. (2018). Towards a data-driven IoT software architecture for smart city utilities. Software: Practice and Experience, 48(7), 1390-1416. https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.2580
