What is a Software Architecture? by Peter Eeles of IBM. This will give you a high-level, authoritative view of what a software architecture consists of.
What parallels do you see between the designs of software architectures and the other design activities we have covered so far in this course? In a lot of ways, we are covering the major pieces of an overall "structure" of design in this course.
Esri guide to the ArcGIS Software Architecture, pages 1 through 6.
This is a good summation of how Esri conceives their system architecture. It's aimed at ArcObjects developers, so don't worry about programming details at this point. Just try to get a feel for how the pieces fit together, and in particular, try to think of how the definitions of software architecture from the first reading play out in the context of ArcGIS (or other GIS systems). Respond to the readings by posting your take on how the second reading (on Esri's architecture) fits into the categories in the first reading (on software architecture). What is missing from the Esri document that the IBM article mentions? To get credit for this assignment, you must post at least one original comment and respond to at least one comment by your fellow students. I encourage you to include links to other content that bolsters your argument.
Joining the Discussion
The Lesson 5 Reading Discussion can be accessed by clicking on Modules in our GEOG 583 space in Canvas. To post a comment, click "Reply" under the discussion prompt and begin typing in the text box, or you can choose to reply to an existing thread. When you are finished typing, click on the "Post Reply" button.