Towards bridging the twin peaks of requirements and architecture

Abstract

Requirements engineering (RE) and software architecture (SA) significantly affect software project success. In practice, requirements and architectural design impact each other. This relationship was the subject of the Fourth International Workshop on the Twin Peaks of Requirements and Architecture (TwinPeaks@ICSE 2014). Similar to previous editions of the TwinPeaks workshop series, we aimed at exploring the relationship between RE and SA in the broader context of nsoftware engineering, rather than in the isolated contexts of either RE or SA. We found that there are things that drive architectural design, in addition to functional and quality requirements (e.g., "architectural necessities" which are often overlooked and ignored by architects). We then identified new challenges related to intertwining requirements and architectures based on the current state of practice. Furthermore, we described solutions to bridging the requirements-architecture gap. These range from technical solutions (e.g., knowledge reuse) to solutions related to changing the mindset and the "way of thinking" of software engineers (e.g., software engineering education).