Standard Artefacts - Capturing interfaces between applications
permalinkJuly 1, 2007. Filed under: architecture, template
Part of a series of standard artefacts, that belong to no particular methodolgy but which have proven to be useful in the general case.
As much as any solution is defined by it's components and what they do, it's defined by the interfaces between those components. In these SOA-centric times, identifying these communication links and promoting their reuse is more important than ever. It's a simple starting point, but I've found just having a table of interfaces to be invaluable over the years.
Each interface can have recorded against it a unique ID and a number of key criteria that help define how it should be implemented by developers. It helps flush out any contentious issues over interface design, use of old standards, near-duplicate interfaces, and many other debates that need to be out in the open early.
There will be more on this later, but for now here's a snapshot of an interface table, and above this article is a link to download a ready-to-go spreadsheet. You can (and should) adapt the columns to your own interface characteristics and situation.
