Testing Software Architecture

If anything, the Agile, Lean, and DevOps movements have proven that software architecture is not a “one man show”. Instead, in order to succeed, software design is a group effort that requires involvement from different stakeholders. In this session I’d like to talk about the testing aspect of software architecture and design.
We will see what exactly is this “important stuff”, that we use to call software architecture; what are its goals, and what differentiates a good architecture from a bad one? Next, we will discuss how to watch over a system’s architecture during the various stages of its development:
* The differences between under and over-engineering
* How to identify forming of a “big ball of mud” in early stages; and
* What are the symptoms of an exhausted architecture that is breaking under its own weight
Ultimately, I’ll demonstrate how such tests can be automated using static code analysis tools.

Transcript

1. vladikk doit-intl.com
   Join at slido.com with #testcon2019
   TESTING
   SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
   

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2. vladikk doit-intl.com
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   @vladikk
   vladikk.com
   DoiT International
   

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3. vladikk doit-intl.com
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4. vladikk doit-intl.com
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5. vladikk doit-intl.com
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6. vladikk doit-intl.com
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7. vladikk doit-intl.com
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8. vladikk doit-intl.com
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   Design Patterns
   Libraries / Frameworks
   Infrastructural components
   Programming languages
   

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9. vladikk doit-intl.com
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   Adapting to changes in business
   Adapting to changes in technology
   Testing out assumptions
   Evolutionary architecture
   

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10. vladikk doit-intl.com
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11. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    So#ware Architecture
    Tes1ng So#ware Architecture
    Automa1on Architectural Tests
    

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12. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    SOFTWARE

    ARCHITECTURE
    

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13. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    "Architecture is about the important stuff, whatever that is”

    - Ralph Johnson
    “Software architecture is those decisions which are

    both important and hard to change” 

    - Martin Fowler
    

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14. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    …but it’s hard!!!
    SOFTWARE SOLVES PROBLEMS
    GOOD DESIGN SUPPORTS THE BUSINESS
    

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15. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Infrastructure
    Databases
    Architectural styles
    Frameworks
    Languages
    Methodologies
    

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16. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    THE GOAL OF SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
    IS TO MANAGE COMPLEXITY!
    

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17. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    1. Component level
    2. System level
    3. Implementation level
    Complexity Management
    

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18. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Local
    Complexity
    

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19. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Global
    Complexity
    

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20. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Global
    Complexity
    

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21. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    ARCHITECTURE = BOUNDARIES DESIGN
    

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22. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    "System design … is inherently about boundaries -
    what’s in, what's out, what spans, what moves
    between, and about tradeoffs. It reshapes what is
    outside, just as it shapes what is inside.”
    - Ruth Malan
    

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23. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Big design upfront
    No design
    Architect
    Evolutionary architecture
    

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24. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    ENTROPY -
    GRADUAL DECLINE INTO DISORDER
    

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26. vladikk doit-intl.com
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27. vladikk doit-intl.com
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28. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    TESTING
    SOFTWARE

    ARCHITECTURE
    

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29. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    FUNCTIONAL TESTING:
    UNIT, INTEGRATION, END-TO-END
    NON-FUNCTIONAL TESTING:
    PERFORMANCE, STRESS, SECURITY, USABILITY, ETC
    DESIGN TESTING:
    LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMPLEXITIES OF THE DESIGN
    

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30. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Good Architecture
    Easy to navigate
    Easy to contribute
    Easy to change
    Delivers business goals
    

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31. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Bad Architecture
    Hard to navigate
    Hard to contribute
    Hard to change
    Under/over engineered
    Big ball of mud
    

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32. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    "A Big Ball of Mud is a haphazardly structured, sprawling,
    sloppy, duct-tape-and-baling-wire, spaghetti-code jungle.
    These systems show unmistakable signs of unregulated
    growth, and repeated, expedient repair. Information is
    shared promiscuously among distant elements of the
    system, often to the point where nearly all the important
    information becomes global or duplicated.”
    - Joseph Yoder
    

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33. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    ARCHITECTURE = BOUNDARIES DESIGN
    GOOD ARCHITECTURE:
    GOOD BOUNDARIES
    BAD ARCHITECTURE:
    BAD BOUNDARIES
    

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34. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    BAD BOUNDARIES = EVERYBODY SUFFERS
    

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35. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    So9ware Engineers
    Hard to add new functionality
    Hard to change existing functionality
    Impossible to unit test
    

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36. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Global
    Complexity
    

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38. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    QA Engineers
    Defects caused by logic duplication
    Regression testing in-proportionally long
    

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    Database Administrators
    Multiple sources of truth
    Inconsistent data that has to be fixed manually
    Lack of transactions due to design constraints
    

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40. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    OperaAons
    No DevOps culture
    Big releases
    Rare deployments
    Complex configurations for components
    

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41. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    OperaAons
    No DevOps culture
    Big releases
    Rare deployments
    Complex configurations for components
    So9ware Engineers
    Hard to add new functionality
    Hard to change existing functionality
    Impossible to unit test
    QA Engineers
    Defects caused by logic duplication
    Regression testing in-proportionally long
    Database Administrators
    Multiple sources of truth
    Inconsistent data that has to be fixed manually
    Lack of transactions due to design constraints
    BAD BOUNDARIES = EVERYBODY SUFFERS
    

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42. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    GOOD ARCHITECTURE
    REQUIRES SHARED OWNERSHIP
    

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43. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    AUTOMATING
    ARCHITECTURAL TESTS
    

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44. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    StaAc Code Analysis
    Analyze the codebase
    Query the code’s health
    Flexible health rules definitions
    Build pipeline integrations
    

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46. vladikk doit-intl.com
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47. vladikk doit-intl.com
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48. vladikk doit-intl.com
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49. vladikk doit-intl.com
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50. vladikk doit-intl.com
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51. vladikk doit-intl.com
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52. vladikk doit-intl.com
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53. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    EVOLUTION DRIVERS
    

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54. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE DRIVERS
    SMALL:
    AD-HOC
    INTEGRATION
    LARGE:
    FORMAL
    INTEGRATION
    

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55. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    BUSINESS STRATEGY CHANGE DRIVERS
    SUPPORTING CORE BUSINESS
    

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56. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    WRAP UP
    

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57. vladikk doit-intl.com
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    Software architecture manages complexity
    Local and global complexities
    Everyone suffers if module boundaries are ineffective
    Look for symptoms of bad boundaries. And react!
    Use static code analysis tools to control codebase evolution
    Look for chages in the organization structure and business strategies
    that affect software design
    

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58. vladikk doit-intl.com
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59. https://bit.ly/2ptJ5fS
    THANK

    YOU!
    @vladikk
    vladikk.com
    https://bit.ly/31nSD9c
    http://careers.doit-intl.com
    

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