Design Principles in System Design and Architecture

Introduction To Design Principles

Designing a plan is a rigorous process as many broad errors can be introduced at this stage. Moreover, if these errors are not identified until later stages, they become more difficult to correct. Therefore, a number of principles are followed in designing software. These principles act as a framework for designers to follow good design practices.

The principles of software design are essential for software to be error-free and maintainable. Remember to upgrade or maintain new features spontaneously and continuously. Given the proper timing for the design factor in SDLC, it will not take long to change and adapt to the latest changes later.

Common Design Principles

Some of the design principles that are commonly followed are as follows:

• Software design must conform to the analytics model: Often a design component meets many requirements, so we need to know how the design model meets all the requirements represented by the analytics model.
• Select the correct programming paradigm: Programming paradigms describe the structure of the software system. Depending on the nature and type of the application, different programming paradigms can be used, such as procedural orientation, object-orientation, and prototyping paradigms. The paradigm should be chosen considering limitations such as time, resource availability, and user needs.
• Software design should be uniform and integrated: Software design is considered uniform and integrated if the interfaces between the design components are properly defined. The design team should establish rules, formats, and designs before designing the software.
• Software design should be flexible: Software design should be flexible enough to adapt easily to changes. To ensure flexibility, basic design concepts such as abstraction, refinement, and modularity should be applied effectively.
• Software design should ensure minimal conceptual errors: The design team should ensure that ambiguity and mismatch, which are the main conceptual errors in design, are resolved in advance before addressing syntactical errors.
• Software design needs to be structured to withstand mild degradation: Software design should be able to handle abnormal changes and situations without affecting performance.
• Software design should represent the relationship between the software and the real problem: The software design should be structured to be associated with real-world problems.
• Software reuse: Software engineers believe in not “reinventing the wheel.” Therefore, software components should be designed in a way that they can be reused effectively to increase productivity.
• Designing for testability: It is important to involve test engineers from the beginning. They should work with analysts to set up tests to ensure user needs are met. Keeping the test phase separate from design and implementation can lead to significant issues if errors are found later.
• Prototyping: Prototyping should be used when requirements are not fully defined at the beginning. The user interacts with the developer to expand and refine requirements as development progresses. Prototyping helps reduce the risk of designing software that does not meet customer requirements.

Characteristics of Design Principles

Application Development for Small Modules

Divide the application module into smaller modules and add an abstract layer on top of each layer. This makes it easier to debug and improve features. It also helps other developers to analyze and enhance the software.

Assemble Proper Needs as a Change

Assembling requirements is another factor in software design that changes drastically. Clients may need to activate new tools or features, so the architecture for software development must be designed considering future implementation and development models.

Modularity as a Paradigm for Separation of Concerns

Modularity is a useful model whenever a complex situation arises. Large problems can be solved more easily if divided into smaller, manageable pieces. Code should not be repetitive, and changes should not affect other parts of the system. Modularity addresses this and should be used with an abstract layer.

Flow Notes and User Representation for Amplitude

Graphic representation and symbols are effective ways of communicating design. Architectural-level designs can be created automatically without human intervention, and there are specific procedures to use this software directly with other software.

Simple and Appropriate

Software design should be simple. Every class and system written should have a common purpose. New upgrades should integrate easily with existing software, and the entire software should be easy to maintain.

Design principles are often limited by existing hardware configuration, implementation language, existing file and data structures, and existing organizational applications. The evolution of each software design must be carefully planned for future evaluations, referrals, and maintenance.

Following software design principles as part of the software development life cycle helps developers make changes and maintain software without breaking or corrupting the system.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading the article on design principles as an essential component in system design and architecture.

Originally published at https://onloadcode.com on January 3, 2021.