This unit is relevant to those who work as software architects, developers, designers, software engineers or programmers responsible for designing and building solution architects.
This unit addresses the knowledge and processes necessary to produce the high-level design (blueprint) of a system.
Not applicable.
1. Gather and confirm architecture requirements | 1.1 Gather information regarding architectural requirements 1.2 Establish and document architectural requirements |
2. Design layered architecture | 2.1 Separate the areas of concern into logical layers 2.2 Determine the cross-cutting concerns 2.3 Define the system into components 2.4 Identify the responsibilities of each component 2.5 Identify interconnections between components |
3. Plan a strategy to re-use components | 3.1 Determine an appropriate strategy for communicating with external systems 3.2 Interact with existing legacy components |
4. Design for globalisation and localisation | 4.1 Determine culture-specific information 4.2 Consider database design features 4.3 Select appropriate user interface 4.4 Develop software product for worldwide distribution 4.5 Develop software product for specific country |
Required skills
analytical skills to:
assign a priority to each architectural requirement
determine areas of concern
communication skills to:
interact with others of different cultures to globalise a software product
interact with stakeholders to gather architectural requirements
initiative and enterprise skills to identify potential improvements to the structure of software and existing systems
literacy skills to:
maintain a complete list of architectural requirements
prepare architectural requirements questionnaire to system stakeholders
problem-solving skills to:
communicate with external systems
determine the possibility of reusing the existing legacy components
technical skills to:
analyse software requirements
design software applications.
Required knowledge
basic knowledge of database design
current software development methodologies
detailed knowledge of:
object-oriented programming
software development life cycle.
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.
Overview of assessment | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | Evidence of the ability to: design layered applications to increase application performance, scalability and re-usability create flexible and configurable applications and adapt to suit different locales adapt a software product to a particular language and culture of the target market. |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Assessment must ensure access to: specific requirements, including functional and non-functional requirements tools to design software architecture culture-specific information for the target culture or language appropriate learning and assessment support when required modified equipment for people with special needs. |
Method of assessment | A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit: review of candidate’s architecture requirements documentation evaluation of software-layered architecture. |
Guidance information for assessment | Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, where appropriate. Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and suitable to the communication skill level, language, literacy and numeracy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed. Indigenous people and other people from a non-English speaking background may need additional support. In cases where practical assessment is used it should be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge. |
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
Architectural requirements may include: | design requirement functional requirements non-functional requirements: maintainability performance reliability scalability security usability quality requirements. |
Layers may include: | business logic layer (BLL) data-access layer (DAL) services layer user interface (UI) layer. |
Cross-cutting concerns may include: | caching (improve performance) communications (protocols) configuration management data protection operational management security: authentication authorisation. |
Programming and software development
This unit contains employability skills.
No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of endorsement but users should confirm requirements with the relevant federal, state or territory authority.