Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding the Use of Reference Architectures in Agile Software Development Projects

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Software Architecture (ECSA 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 9278))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Software reference architectures potentially constrain the flexibility of software design by imposing and sometimes even fixing architectural decisions and structures early. This seems to contradict agile values, principles and practices which acknowledge flexible and changing software requirements and the need to adapt architectural designs accordingly. To increase our understanding of how reference architectures are used in agile software development projects, we conducted an exploratory case study in two Dutch software developing organizations. Both organizations use Scrum as their agile framework. Preliminary findings reported in this short paper indicate that a) some aspects of reference architectures are not specific to using them in agile development projects with Scrum (e.g., types of reference architectures used; limited design choices), and b) reference architectures can support cross-functional and self-organizing teams, and help increase architectural focus in contexts where architectural thinking tends to be neglected.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. VersionOne Inc.: 8th Annual State of Agile Survey (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Diaz, J., Perez, J., Alarcon, P.P., Garbajosa, J.: Agile Product Line Engineering - A Systematic Literature Review. Software - Practice and Experience 41, 921–941 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Governor, J., Hinchcliffe, D., Nickull, D.: Web 2.0 Architectures - What entrepreneurs and information architects need to know. O’Reilly Media / Adope Developer Library, Newton, MA (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kruchten, P.: The Rational Unified Process: An Introduction. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Nakagawa, E.Y., Oliveira Antonino, P., Becker, M.: Reference architecture and product line architecture: a subtle but critical difference. In: Crnkovic, I., Gruhn, V., Book, M. (eds.) ECSA 2011. LNCS, vol. 6903, pp. 207–211. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Martínez-Fernández, S., Ayala, C.P., Franch, X., Martins Marques, H.: Benefits and drawbacks of reference architectures. In: Drira, K. (ed.) ECSA 2013. LNCS, vol. 7957, pp. 307–310. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Angelov, S., Grefen, P., Greefhorst, D.: A Framework for Analysis and Design of Software Reference Architectures. Information and Software Technology 54, 417–431 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Angelov, S., Trienekens, J., Kusters, R.: Software reference architectures - exploring their usage and design in practice. In: Drira, K. (ed.) ECSA 2013. LNCS, vol. 7957, pp. 17–24. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Ali Babar, M., Brown, A., Mistrik, I.: Agile Software Architecture - Aligning Agile Processes and Software Architectures. Morgan Kaufman (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Abrahamsson, P., Babar, M.A., Kruchten, P.: Agility and Architecture: Can they Coexist? IEEE Software 27, 16–22 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yin, R.K.: Case Study Research - Design and Methods. Sage Publications, London (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Robson, C.: Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-researchers. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Vogt, P.: Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology - A Non-technical Guide for the Social Sciences. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Runeson, P., Hoest, M.: Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting Case Study Research in Software Engineering. Empirical Software Engineering 14, 131–164 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gerring, J.: Case Study Research - Principles and Practices. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2006)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Strauss, A.C., Corbin, J.: Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M.: Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Adolph, S., Hall, W., Kruchten, P.: Using Grounded Theory to Study the Experience of Software Development. Empirical Software Engineering 16, 487–513 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Krippendorff, K.: Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Noblit, G.W., Hare, R.D.: Meta-Ethnography: Synthesizing Qualitative Studies. Sage Publications, Newbury Park (1988)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  21. Wohlin, C., Hoest, M., Henningsson, K.: Empirical research methods in software engineering. In: Conradi, R., Wang, A.I. (eds.) Empirical Methods and Studies in Software Engineering. LNCS, vol. 2765, pp. 7–23. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Easterbrook, S., Singer, J., Storey, M.-A., Damian, D.: Selecting empirical methods for software engineering research. In: Shull, F., Singer, J., Sjoberg, D.I.K. (eds.) Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering, pp. 285–311. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Matthias Galster

  2. Department of Software Engineering, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Samuil Angelov

Authors
  1. Matthias Galster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Samuil Angelov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthias Galster .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

    Danny Weyns

  2. Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Biongegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Raffaela Mirandola

  3. Computer Science and Engineering Department, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ivica Crnkovic

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Galster, M., Angelov, S. (2015). Understanding the Use of Reference Architectures in Agile Software Development Projects. In: Weyns, D., Mirandola, R., Crnkovic, I. (eds) Software Architecture. ECSA 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9278. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23727-5_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23727-5_22

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23726-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23727-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation