Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems

SEI Report
This report provides suggestions for documenting service-oriented architecture-based systems based on the Views & Beyond (V&B) software documentation approach.
Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041

Abstract

This report provides suggestions for documenting service-oriented architecture-based systems based on the Views & Beyond (V&B) software documentation approach. The V&B documentation approach is a lightweight and flexible approach to documenting software architecture developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute.  

This report also includes an overview of several well-known service-oriented architecture (SOA) documentation challenges and suggestions for tailoring and augmenting the V&B approach to address those challenges. 

The author hopes that the suggestions presented in this report will help SOA developers to avoid some of the common documentation pitfalls and produce higher quality SOA documentation.

Cite This SEI Report

Bellomo, S. (2010, September 1). Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041). Retrieved September 16, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/.

@techreport{bellomo_2010,
author={Bellomo, Stephany},
title={Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems},
month={Sep},
year={2010},
number={{CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-16}
}

Bellomo, Stephany. "Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems." (CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, September 1, 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/.

S. Bellomo, "Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041, 1-Sep-2010 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/. [Accessed: 16-Sep-2026].

Bellomo, Stephany. "Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Sep. 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

Bellomo, Stephany. Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems. CMU/SEI-2010-TR-041. Software Engineering Institute. 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/suggestions-for-documenting-soa-based-systems/