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Sunday, August 29, 2010
The future of software architecture research?
First, how much effort should be put into architecting? In industry there never are unlimited man-power and indefinite time plans. So how do you know that you have done enough architecting? Or did too many people working with the architecture for a too long time? Or when are the gains in putting another man-hour too small to make it worthwhile?
Second, how to define an architecture based on imperfect premises? In practice the architects never have the full picture. There might be requirements missing, stakeholders unavailable or implicit constraints. Similarly the architects themselves are no super-humans, there will be inconsistencies in what they do, things forgotten, lack of crucial knowledge or personal biases, all which cause an imperfect architecture.
Personally I think that these two areas are more important from an industrial viewpoint than further software architecture research on Architecture Description Languages, formal methods or Service Oriented Architectures (the latter may be contested, but I think I am not alone).
At the 4th European Conference on Software Architecture the workshop in imperfect architecture was cancelled, probably due to too little interest (I heard only 3 papers were submitted). On the other hand I found 7 papers when I scanned the LNCS proceedings which in their title relates to the subjects above.
I don't find this very promising. Eoin Woods had a similar conclusion on the state of software architecture research at his ECSA talk when talking about the relationship between code and other design information, such as architecture, where he thought the academic research and the industrial needs are diverging and not converging.
You can also read this related column from IEEE Software: The Top 10 Burning Research Questions from Practitioners. Especially #4 "Architecture and agile—how much design is enough for different classes of problem?" should get more attention at software architecture conferences.
A colleague of mine at Volvo had an interesting proposition: Since software engineering as a dsiciplin comes from the practitioners the research community wants to keep some distance, in contrast to the "fundamental" researchers in e.g. physics who would be enthusiastic if somebody is interested in applying their theories.
2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT






2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT






Mercedes Arrow Is A Lightweight Two-Seater Vehicle Gives You The Feeling Of Sliding With A Bobsleigh
Mercedes Arrow has been designed to draw a comparison with other recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, jetskis or personalized aircraft. This stunning vehicle gives its passengers the ride of their life. The bobsleigh shaped body, the lightweight materials and the sporty look enable it to shoot through heavy traffic like an arrow from a bow. This experience can only be enjoyed by two passengers, their seats are placed one in front of another. One of the stunning features this futuristic car has, is that it combines TANDEM with MAGLEV technology to take sharp corners. This innovative feature allows the body of the car to tilt left and right when the car is taking corners, thus minimizing the wheels tilt angle. There is an almost non-existing chance for the vehicle to slide out of control. Due to the slim body, the wheels cover the same space of tarmac, just as a contemporary car, eliminating the risk of the car flipping over. The designer, Felipe Palermo, found inspiration in the old Silver Arrows, the SLR McLaren and the 1954 Gull-Wing.
Designer : Felipe Nogueria Palermo
The whole design and idea put this concept automotive in a near future, where people won’t be using cars anymore. A future where the whole transport itself will be based on rail systems. Felipe’s Arrow vehicle is designed for fun in the weekends, a recreational vehicle. The air intake placed in the rear of the car, over the last passenger, reminds us that the whole vehicle is based on Mercedes’ racing history and its super-cars. The airintake is also a starting point for the side bars, which strengthens the body and hold between them a small wind shield in front of the driver. Mercedes Arrow will be equipped with the next generation tire technology. They will have the ability to never wear out, the driver will be able to re-inject them with rubber and take the car for a spin, again. Felipe Palermo has applied everything he has learned at the IED, where he graduated in Car Design in 2007. He also has a post degree in Transportation Design and Industrial Design at FAAP, and is currently working at Mercedes-Benz Design Studio in Brazil.
Mercedes Arrow Is A Lightweight Two-Seater Vehicle Gives You The Feeling Of Sliding With A Bobsleigh
Mercedes Arrow has been designed to draw a comparison with other recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, jetskis or personalized aircraft. This stunning vehicle gives its passengers the ride of their life. The bobsleigh shaped body, the lightweight materials and the sporty look enable it to shoot through heavy traffic like an arrow from a bow. This experience can only be enjoyed by two passengers, their seats are placed one in front of another. One of the stunning features this futuristic car has, is that it combines TANDEM with MAGLEV technology to take sharp corners. This innovative feature allows the body of the car to tilt left and right when the car is taking corners, thus minimizing the wheels tilt angle. There is an almost non-existing chance for the vehicle to slide out of control. Due to the slim body, the wheels cover the same space of tarmac, just as a contemporary car, eliminating the risk of the car flipping over. The designer, Felipe Palermo, found inspiration in the old Silver Arrows, the SLR McLaren and the 1954 Gull-Wing.
Designer : Felipe Nogueria Palermo
The whole design and idea put this concept automotive in a near future, where people won’t be using cars anymore. A future where the whole transport itself will be based on rail systems. Felipe’s Arrow vehicle is designed for fun in the weekends, a recreational vehicle. The air intake placed in the rear of the car, over the last passenger, reminds us that the whole vehicle is based on Mercedes’ racing history and its super-cars. The airintake is also a starting point for the side bars, which strengthens the body and hold between them a small wind shield in front of the driver. Mercedes Arrow will be equipped with the next generation tire technology. They will have the ability to never wear out, the driver will be able to re-inject them with rubber and take the car for a spin, again. Felipe Palermo has applied everything he has learned at the IED, where he graduated in Car Design in 2007. He also has a post degree in Transportation Design and Industrial Design at FAAP, and is currently working at Mercedes-Benz Design Studio in Brazil.
