New Master Projects on Architectural Knowledge

AK-MSC-A01: Tool Support for Architectural Decisions

Description: The vaporization of knowledge on the architecture of a software system leads to increased costs for the industry [1, 2, 3]. To solve the problem, we investigate innovative approaches for the acquisition of architectural knowledge, by capturing architectural decisions. However, we need help on developing tools that can support the new approaches. As a member of this project, you will get an introduction to the state of the art in managing architectural knowledge. You will have the chance to contribute with your own ideas to the new tools, and obtain practical experience in software development, that will benefit you on the long term.
Objective: This assignment is about developing tool support for the effective acquisition of software architectural knowledge.
Profile: You should have good programming skills, initiative and motivation. This is a good opportunity to practice and improve your programming skills.

References

[1] Rus, I. & Lindvall, M., 2002. Knowledge management in software engineering. IEEE Software, 19(3), pp.26-38. Available at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/lpdocs/epic03/wrapper.htm?arnumber=1003450.
[2] Farenhorst, R. & de Boer, R.C., 2009. Architectural Knowledge Management: Supporting Architects and Auditors. dspace.ubvu.vu.nl. Available at: http://archixl.nl/files/2009-AKM-Proefschrift.pdf.
[3] Tyree, J. & Akerman, A., 2005. Architecture decisions: Demystifying architecture. IEEE software, (April), p.1927. Available at: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.110910.1109/MS.2005.27.

AK-MSC-A02: Perform a literature review on architectural decisions

Description: Architectural decisions are gaining more importance in the software engineering community. The amount of existing research work on architectural decisions increases every year. There is a need for understanding the main research directions for this area.
Objective: This assignment is about using systematic literature review method [1] to summarize and assess existing work on architectural decisions.
Profile: You should have good time management skills, willingness to learn new things, and basic research skills.

References

[1] B.A. Kitchenham, Procedures for performing systematic reviews, Keele University Technical Report TR/SE-0401 and NICTA Technical Report 0400011T.1, 2004. (http://www.idi.ntnu.no/emner/empse/papers/kitchenham_2004.pdf)