Review of Software Architecture Analysis and Evaluation Methods

Software architecture (SA) is emerging as the primary research area in software engineering and one of the key technologies to the development of large-scale software system and product line system. The purpose of SA analysis and evaluation is to identify the potential risks and help make proper architecture decision. Based on the concept of SA, basic definition as different views of software architecture descriptions is classified and summarized. The recent representative SA analysis and evaluation methods and supporting tools are introduced and reviewed. Additionally, some issues of study on SA analysis and evaluation are discussed, and the causes are explained at the same time. Finally, it is concluded with the promising tendency about the SA analysis and evaluation. The purpose of this work is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the representative methods and tools, and then to provide supporting for using of the suitable methods and tools for architecture evaluation and assessment.