Software Design & Architecture
4+1 View Model of Software Architecture
Dr. Nargis Fatima
Assistant Professor
Department of Software Engineering
National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad
Spring-2023
4+1 Model View of Architecture
• The 4+1 view model is used to describe the
architecture (design) of software-intensive
systems using several, concurrent views.
• End-users, developers, system engineers, and
project managers all have unique views on the
system, hence the viewpoints are used to
describe it from their perspectives.
4+1 View Model of Architecture
End user Development Programmers
Logical view & software
view
managers
Use Case/Scenarios
Process View Physical View
Integrator System Engineer
4+1 Model View of Architecture
• The system is described using different viewpoints.
• The model has four views:
– Logical
– Development
– Process
– Physical
– In addition, selected use cases or scenarios are utilized as the
‘plus one’ view to show the design.
– As a result, the model has 4+1 views. Therefore, the model is
called The 4+1 Architectural View.
4+1 Model Description
• Logical View
– The logical view is concerned with the
system’s functionality as it pertains to end-
users.
– Class diagrams and state diagrams are
examples of UML diagrams that are used to
depict the logical view.
4+1 Model Description
• Process View
– The process view focuses on the system’s run-
time behavior and deals with the system’s
dynamic elements.
– It explains the system processes and how they
communicate.
– The sequence diagram, activity diagram can be
used to describe a process view.
4+1 Model Description
• Development View
– The development view depicts a system from the
standpoint of a programmer and is concerned with
software administration.
– The implementation view is another name for this view.
– It describes system components using the UML
Component diagram. Package diagram used to depict
the development view.
4+1 Model Description
• Physical View
– The physical view portrays the system from the
perspective of a system engineer.
– The physical layer, it is concerned with the topology of
software components as well as the physical
connections between these components.
– The deployment view is another name for this view.
– The deployment diagram is used to depict the physical
perspective.
4+1 Model Description
• Scenarios
– The description of an architecture is illustrated using a small
set of usecases, or scenarios, which become a fifth view.
– The scenarios describe
• sequences of interactions between objects and between processes.
• They are used to identify architectural elements and to illustrate and
validate the architecture design.
• They also serve as a starting point for tests of an architecture
prototype.
– This view is also known as the use case view.
Why 4+1 Model
• Various stakeholders of software system
– End-user, developers, system engineers, project managers
– Using several concurrent views or perspectives, with different notations each one
addressing one specific set for concerns
•
The Iterative Process
• Not all software arch. Need all views.
• A scenario driven approach to develop the
system.