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Grady Booch on the Limits of Software

Blog (Handbook of Software Architecture). Grady Booch makes a gracious observation about the furor concerning the announced delay for Windows Vista on his blog (no permalink: current article will scroll off).  He looks at the angst posted by Microsoft developers and observes 

comments suggest that the root problems are not technical, but rather orbit the region of design and organization in my characterization of the limits of software [registration required — dh:].

{tags: software architecture pattern language forces system constraints system requirements Grady Booch orcmid}

Booch’s depiction of the limits of software and the situational factors that originate many of those limits is a must-read.  The registration process is painless.  I heartily recommend the draft materials in the on-line Handbook of Software Architecture to anyone interested in architectural considerations that apply to software systems design and development. 

One tangential value for me, on my third or fourth scan of the limits page, is that I finally have come to understand where “Forces” come from in templates for pattern languages.  I’m still uncomfortable with that metaphor for patterns of non-physical systems, and will stick to concerns.  I also notice that it is important to identify important constraints as well as requirements, especially non-functional ones and I haven’t looked at that in the context of patterns for computer-based applications.  (I also see that I have one more David Harel book to track down.)

posted by orcmid at 3/29/2006 02:15:11 PM, rating data by NewsGator Online