System architecture diagrams play an essential role in understanding system architecture. They encourage more active discussion among participants and make it easier to recall system details. However, system architecture diagrams often diverge from the software. As a result, they can interfere with the understanding and maintenance of the software. We propose an approach to build system architecture diagrams using DevOps system descriptors to improve the consistency of architecture diagrams. To produce our approach, we survey problems with architecture diagrams in the software industry, developing guidelines for creating architecture diagrams. Next, we produce a taxonomy for system descriptor concepts and a process to convert system descriptors into architecture diagrams. We evaluate our approach through a case study. In this case study, we defined a Docker Compose descriptor for a newsfeed system and transformed it into a system architectural diagram using the proposed approach. Our results indicate that, currently, system descriptors generally lead to consistent diagrams only to a limited extent. However, the case study's observations indicate that the proposed approach is promising and demonstrates that system descriptors have the potential to create more consistent architectural diagrams. Further evaluation in controlled and empirical experiments is necessary to test our hypothesis in more detail.
翻译:系统架构图在理解系统架构中发挥着必不可少的作用。 它们鼓励参与者进行更加积极的讨论, 并使得系统细节的回顾更加容易。 但是, 系统架构图往往与软件有差异。 因此, 它们可以干扰软件的理解和维护。 我们建议了一种方法, 使用 DevOps 系统描述符来构建系统架构图, 以提高结构图的一致性 。 为了产生我们的方法, 我们调查软件行业架构图的问题, 制定建筑图的指南 。 其次, 我们为系统描述仪概念编制一个分类法, 并将系统描述符转换为结构图 。 我们通过案例研究评估了我们的方法。 在案例研究中, 我们为新闻搜索系统定义了多克- Compter 描述符, 并用拟议方法将它转化为系统架构图 。 我们的结果表明, 目前系统描述符通常只在有限程度上导致一致的图表 。 但是, 案例研究的观察表明, 拟议的方法很有希望, 并表明系统描述符有潜力创建更一致的建筑图 。 在受控和实证实验实验实验中, 进一步评估我们的假设是必要的。