We are trained to think and act rather than to wait for instructions and detailed specifications. As the development of complex systems is an area very relevant for Swedish industry it is very important that we understand our strengths and weaknesses in this area in order to maintain our position and to improve our ability. The research program proposed is aiming at just identifying, understanding, and communicating the key success factors in the system development process, the Swedish way. The Meaning of Software and System Architecture System Architecture is about how a complex system can be viewed as consisting of interrelated components. Their components in turn can be regarded as systems consisting of related subcomponents, etc.
Software architecture is the architecture for a system implemented in software.
Thus system architecture denotes the nature of the interactions or the interrelations between the parts of the system considered. If we just are interested in this structure, the mere interaction pattern, we are focusing on the topological structure. The system designer or developer builds the system by combining some possibly already existing building blocks. The structure of the building blocks constitutes the developer's view. The internal system in operation may contain some visible activities that can be grouped together in some structure, the process structure.