Software architecture (not to be confused with architecture design) is mostly the externally visible components of a system.
In this phase of the Software Development Life Cycle the main concern is “what” a system should do while software Design is about “how” a system achieves its goals.
Architecture is a higher level of abstraction and it scopes all of the system, not just the modules like in the design.
Architecture is the blueprint for building the design, it aids in understanding how a certain system must behave, it must meet the technical and operational requirements. The structural elements and interfaces of the system are selected to compose the project and they are separated into modules that must later be designed.
Architecture is important because all software must have solid foundations. Common problems or failures must be detected so long term consequences can be avoided.
There are some key things to consider when building a systems architecture:
-User Empowerment
-Market Maturity
-Flexible Design
-Future Trends
Here is a video to understand the difference between software design and architecture:
Uploaded by Software Architect CA
Some software architecture styles are:
-Structure (component-based, layered)
-Shared Memory (data-centric, rule-based)
-Messaging (event-driven, asynchronous messaging)
-Adaptive Systems (plug-ins, Microkernel, reflection)
-Distributed Systems (2-tier, 3-tier, n-tier, peer2peer)
Sources:
Difference between Software Architecture and Software Design
