Selecting Application Frameworks Using Architectural Patterns and Tactics

Architects often evaluate and analyze application frameworks that implement architectural patterns that structure software designs to address quality attribute concerns. To satisfy the quality attributes through architectural patterns, these must be complemented by architectural tactics. Although architectural patterns pack architectural tactics, there has been little discussion on the effect of using architectural tactics to support architectural patterns to select application frameworks in architectural design. This study reports a controlled experiment with IT professionals (N = 28) that evaluates architectural patterns and tactics to select application frameworks. Two scenarios are considered. Scenario 1 included architectural patterns and tactics as decision mechanisms, while scenario 2 considered only architectural patterns. We used precision, recall, and a custom efficiency metric to compare the scenarios. The results indicate that scenario 1 produces more pragmatic and efficient solutions than scenario 2 does. Architectural tactics reduce space for solutions to make more precise decisions regarding architectural design.