In Computer science, we term the design of a system as "architecture". I always take "architecture" as "structure". I know there are some differences between these two terms. But still I am confused. Please provide some specific points to differentiate them.
Software architecture
The most widely accepted definition comes from work done in the Software Architecture group of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“The architecture of a software-intensive system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and the relationships among them.”
(Bass, Clements, & Kazman, 2003)
Software Structure
Software structure may be a little confusing and seems that no difference between it and software architecture, also there is no solid definition for system structure. Software structure has two types, static and dynamic.
“The static structures of a software system define its internal design-time elements and their arrangement”
“The dynamic structures of a software system define its runtime elements and their interactions“
(Bass, Clements, & Kazman, 2003)
“If structure is important to achieve your system’s goals, that structure is architectural. But designers of elements, or subsystems, that you assign may have to introduce structure of their own to meet their goals, in which case such structures are architectural: to them but not to you.”
(Clements, et al., 2010)
https://melsatar.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/difference-between-software-architecture-software-structure-and-software-design/
Software architecture
The most widely accepted definition comes from work done in the Software Architecture group of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“The architecture of a software-intensive system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and the relationships among them.”
(Bass, Clements, & Kazman, 2003)
Software Structure
Software structure may be a little confusing and seems that no difference between it and software architecture, also there is no solid definition for system structure. Software structure has two types, static and dynamic.
“The static structures of a software system define its internal design-time elements and their arrangement”
“The dynamic structures of a software system define its runtime elements and their interactions“
(Bass, Clements, & Kazman, 2003)
“If structure is important to achieve your system’s goals, that structure is architectural. But designers of elements, or subsystems, that you assign may have to introduce structure of their own to meet their goals, in which case such structures are architectural: to them but not to you.”
(Clements, et al., 2010)
https://melsatar.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/difference-between-software-architecture-software-structure-and-software-design/
Dear Haque,
Architecture is a science, a systematic way of creating designs of things some one wants to built or create a structure. Structure on the other hand is the finished material, either physical or conceptual that is built according to the designs we made or developed. Physical structure, a structure that is built from physical material based on designs we put on paper via techniques called architecture. Mathematical structures, structures of abstractions that are built from basic axioms, rules and orders using logic and reasoning.
Let one more remark. I believe in the existence of differences in the structure of words and spelligne.
I think the key of those terms interpretation resides in
the more general meaning of structure: they are relations, preserving their form, despite components defining them.
In the given case, architecture would be a particular case of the structure.
Of course, in some fields, general terms may be interpreted, by convention, in a different way.
Both mean the same in software as elsewhere -- structure is what it is (or turns out to be), architecture is what has been done to it. Some one may 'architect' a humanoid and it may turn out to be a frankenstein's 'structure'.
Dear Mushtaq sab,
Thank you for your answer. This is also my point of view.
Regards,
Asraful
Computer architecture research at UW CSE encompasses the structure, organization, implementation, and performance of the basic building blocks of computer systems. By improving reliability and efficiency, identifying and removing limitations on performance, and leveraging alternative computing substrates, we are helping to shape the future of computing. Several of our faculty and students participate in the inter-disciplinary SAMPA group, a collaborative effort focused on computer architecture, operating systems, compilers and programming languages that is aimed at making computer systems faster, more reliable, and more energy efficient.
https://www.cs.washington.edu/research/architecture
A means of storing a collection of data. Computer science is in part the study of methods for effectively using a computer to solve problems, or in other words, determining exactly the problem to be solved. This process entails (1) gaining an understanding of the problem; (2) translating vague descriptions, goals, and contradictory requests, and often unstated desires, into a precisely formulated conceptual solution; and (3) implementing the solution with a computer program. This solution typically consists of two parts: algorithms and data structures.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Structure+(computer+science)
The link between the architecture of the structure is very narrow, and it is the structure to be the medium that allows the architecture to present itself as such. Over time such a link has been strongly linked to the knowledge of materials and especially of construction techniques; but, at the beginning of the 21st century., it is no longer so, and all that was once defined and constituted a constraint has become today a capacity, a possibility. The strength of this potential is expressed in the constructional plastic that seem to defy the laws of physics, statics and construction technique.
There is a thin line between them & both are interrelated. A computer's architecture refers to the internal configuration/organization of computer and the flow of information & work or a series of layers starting with the physical hardware linking to the BIOS and other drivers then the operating system and finally the running application. A computer's structure is arrangement of a number of components so as they are held together in a particular cohesive way that results in functioning.
The structure is the foundation of functionality in architecture.
This is a good question.
In addition to the excellent observations by @Subhash C. Kundu and @Vladimir A. Kulchitsky, there is a bit more one can observe about architecture vs. structure.
Structure: In Computer Science and Mathematics, a structure is a nonempty set of objects satisfying a number of properties (and, often, equipped with one or more relations). For more about this, see
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Structure.html
Architecture: This term has been traced back to work at IBM in 1950s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_architecture
We have a choice, then, namely, computer architecture or the more recent notion of software architecture in Computer Science. In both cases, one can observe that an architecture is an organized collection of structures.
Architecture is a macroscopic (very rough) representation of a system whereas structure is a microscopic (very comprehensive) representation of the system.
@Subhash C. Kundu Thank you for referring to my blog :)
Here is the updated link
https://melsatar.blog/2013/01/05/difference-between-software-architecture-software-structure-and-software-design/
There is a bit more that we can consider concerning architecture.
First, let a pure architecture to be an organized collection of structures. Each structure is a nonempty set. I suggest the term "pure architecture" to cover any of the familiar architectures and possible new architectures.
Next, the axiom of choice tells us something about any architecture.
Axiom of choice (AC): Given any collection of sets, however large, we can choose one element each set in the collection. This form of the AC comes from Willard (Topology, 1970).
Then the axiom of choice tells us that we can choose one or more elements from each structure in any architecture.
Dear Md Asraful
Structure is something that holds in various areas of knowledge: urban structure, musical, a company or an establishment. For architecture of a building structure is a key element to turn the project into a constructed building
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Computer Science