How Do You Define Software Architecture?

"Software architecture is the set of design decisions which, if made incorrectly, may cause your project to be cancelled."
– Eoin Woods

The following sections attempt to capture an appropriate cross section of what is meant by software architecture.

Modern, Classic, and Bibliographic Definitions
- Modern definitions are definitions from Software Architecture in Practice and from ANSI/IEEE Std 1471-2000, Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems.
- Classic definitions lists definitions from some of the more important or influential books and papers on architecture.
- Bibliographic definitions are taken from papers and articles in our software architecture bibliography.
Community Definitions
- Community definitions are those that our Web visitors from around the world have contributed.