Publishers of technology books, eBooks, and videos for creative people

Home > Articles > Web Design & Development > Blogs

Why Use Architecture in a Dynamic Publishing System?

📄 Contents

  1. Why Use Architecture in a Dynamic Publishing System?
  2. About this Article
Does the word "architecture" imply a dreaded, feared task? Benjamin Elmore shows you why it's essential to implement a solid architecture well before the web development process begins.
Like this article? We recommend

Like this article? We recommend

Why Use Architecture in a Dynamic Publishing System?

Some view learning architecture and following the necessary guidelines it imposes in an application as a daunting task. There's a constant learning curve before an individual can be called proficient in architecture. With that said, understanding why you would even bother learning architecture is a valid question.

Reasons to Learn About Architecture

There are several reasons for an organization or a developer to take the time to immerse in this thing called architecture.

The first reason behind using architecture is that it saves development time for the project by helping plan the entire application before development starts. This is because architecture in its simplest term is the mapping out and visualization of what the application is intending to do. With architecture in place, an application has the capability to discover flaws before a single line of code is written. Software studies have shown that requirement flaws captured this early can have a return on investment (ROI) in cost savings of upward to 10 times of what it would have been if caught during the designing steps of the application. One particular report illustrated in Karl E. Wieger's book Software Requirements (Microsoft Press, [cw]1999) estimated the cost to change a requirement at 200 percent more than the initial cost of building that requirement into the application. Looking at these numbers, we can deduct that just a single discovery can lessen the actual time needed to implement and cost justify the time spent creating and implementing an architecture.

With architecture comes design standards, guidelines, and consistent approaches to development (referred to as patterns) that allow the application to be more easily understood by new members to the team, better maintained, and also support changes without the threat of rippling the code base.

This benefit also has its criticism against it. The main points of contention are that the design of the application's architecture actually adds time to a project's development cycle, or that ramping up on architecture is too costly for an organization. As we can see from the base ROI statement, this is quite the opposite. However, there is some validity to the time investment to set this in place. Both an organization and a developer who are first approaching leveraging architecture should realize that during the first implementation, they won't see the same magnitude of time savings as noted earlier. The reason for this is that a learning curve absorbs a majority of the time saved, as noted above. You will start to see the benefits pay off in subsequent implementations.

The second reason behind using architecture comes out of the ability to create a set of documents that describe the application. This is where architecture starts to intersect with methodology or the process in which the application is built in. Different methodologies call for different diagrams, requirement formats, and other bits of information to ensure not only sound information architecture but also a clean transition between a user's need and the final product. We will pass on the methodology discussion and instead focus on the documentation that surrounds architecture. It is here that the main point of contention is raised: Many developers and managers feel that the level of detail necessary to properly document an application is much too time consuming. This misconception is due to a lack of understanding of how to effectively leverage the documentation notation.

In the software industry, there has emerged a standard notation for describing the functionality and data associated with the application. This notation is called Unified Modeling Language (UML) and is managed by the Object Management Group, which is a committee of companies that govern this and other languages. The web site for this standard is http://www.uml.org.

Circling back to the point that brought us to UML, it should be noted that although there is a variety to the notation used to document your architecture, it is not a requirement that all of it be used in every design. Relating this to programming, this is like saying you aren't required to use all the functionality of the language on each application. The only requirement is that you document the design enough to guarantee a clear description of the application's functionality—nothing more, nothing less.

For an organization, the benefits to why are clear. They include a faster development time and a living documented design repository of your application. To a developer, though, what is the attraction to become an information architect? One of the most appealing facets is that architecture is abstracted from languages. (This is also another benefit to an organization.) Instead of having to look at what is apparent in the constructs of a development language, architecture allows you the freedom of solving the problem using the abstract basic building blocks and principles found in a design notation. Thus, as languages change, the way you approach a problem doesn't. We'll expand this point a bit in the next section.

Some Architectural Progression

Information systems, like any other industry in history, have evolved from the days of invention and hand craftsmanship into the realms of automation and dynamic structure. At the same time, this evolutionary process has been reciprocal with each major development trend. We have gone from mainframes with text-based interfaces to client-server with rich graphical interfaces and back again with the advent of the Internet and the web with text-based browser interfaces. We now see this coming full circle, first with the introduction of dynamic HTML and now with the graphical benefits of Flash.

Looking to the future, we are heading down this path again with wireless and device-driven systems.

It seems that with each new paradigm, we want to throw out ideas from the past, burn our notebooks, so to speak, and feel that we need to unlearn and relearn to embrace a new technology. It is actually quite the contrary, and the concepts and strategies that we discuss here have been in existence for a long while. If we keep as open a mind to what we already know as we are with what is to come, we'll realize that learning a new technology is merely a question of a new application of our existing architectural knowledge.

What Is Information Architecture?

In its most basic form, information architecture is essentially the collective decisions that are made concerning the design and construction of the various artifacts (components, business entities, packages, subsystems, and so on), such as how they will collaborate and interface with each other to develop an information system.

In the construction industry, a building cannot be constructed without having a blueprint. A blueprint ensures the success and safety of the construction project. Laws exist both in nature and in society that govern the construction of buildings. Architecture is applied to different levels of projects that call for various levels of detail and completeness. The blueprint for a doghouse would be in stark contrast to a blueprint of a 20,000-seat arena.

In the realm of information systems, architecture is just as important to the process of system construction as it is with building construction. You wouldn't let someone build your house without a plan and a blueprint that ensures your home will be the configuration you desire, provide the services you need for survival, and be safe for your family to live in. In the same respect, as a business, we shouldn't let anyone build an information system without a plan and a blueprint that ensures that the system will be configured correctly, provide the services that our business requires, be scalable to meet the business demands, and be safe for our business to operate.

Following this thought through to completion, failure of design can be determined by looking at the two extremes: uncontrolled and nonexistent. Because all systems have an architecture, not starting out with a planned one results in an ad-hoc pieced together system that lacks a consistent flow. Any changes that are needed to this sort of system are difficult to make because the capability to pinpoint exactly where the change needs to made is impossible. On the other extreme is an over-scoped architecture. In this extreme, the needs of the business requirement are not met because the architecture is the focus. In this sort of system, the blueprint is crafted to support unrealistic demand and functionality for the application. Consequently, the timeline to build this is much longer.

New Riders published a book titled Information Architecture, (©2003, ISBN 0735712506) that can provide further information on this subject.

Peachpit Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Peachpit and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Peachpit products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email ask@peachpit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.peachpit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020