Towards a Rigorous Software Architecture Documentation Process: A Demonstration with the Real-time Immersive Network Simulation Environment (RINSE)

Abstract

Despite numerous empirical studies and wide-spread, practical experience demonstrating the importance of rigorous documentation in software engineering, many developers continue to treat it as an “after thought.” Documentation, particularly of software architecture, should be an integral process of any development group, whether entrepreneurial, academic, or corporate. In this article the authors develop and apply the software engineering principles of Len Bass, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman for software architecture documentation. The case study involves a relatively large-scale, academic development project aimed at supporting large-scale network security preparedness and training exercises, involving hundreds of players and a modeled network composed of hundreds of networks.