Architectural Styles

Genres

Architecture of Learning Environments E19.2017

Architectural Styles In software architecture, a style is a set

of design rules that identify: The kinds of components and The relationships & communications

between components that form the system.

Choose a style based on the purpose, the type of task or the type of problem.

Software Architecture StylesExamples of Architectural Styles

There are many common ways of designing computer software components and their communications:

Blackboard Client-server Database-centric architecture Distributed computing Event Driven Architecture Peer-to-peer Plugin Search-oriented architecture

Blackboard Architectural StyleThree Major Components:

The Knowledge Sources (KS) are modules that provide specific expertise needed by the application.

The blackboard, a shared workspace and dynamic "library" of contributions to the current problem

The control shell, which controls the flow of problem-solving activity in the system.

Useful for brainstorming style of interactions between diverse users

www.piffe.com

ww.physics.utoronto.ca/.../blackboard.jpg

“Peer to Peer” Architectural StyleA peer-to-peer (P2P) style:

Network formed by diversely connected participants

Relies on the cumulative bandwidth of network participants rather than centralized resources

Useful for file-sharing- e.g. Napster, Limewire

Server-Based Network Peer-to-peer Network

Information Architecture… Genres In the context of the web, there’s a similar

need to identify the style of the information architecture.

In IA, have the emergent idea of Genres, “metadata genres” or “document genres”

Genres help to identify the content and how it will be used.

Genres… What are common genres in print media?

Newsletters, newspapers, flyers, brochures, guidebooks, encyclopedias, coffee-table art books, the grant proposal, reports, legal briefs, others?

Common genres in film and video?

Documentaries, broadcast news, romantic comedies, film noir, others?

Definition: Genres

Orlikowski and Yates*:

A genre is "a distinctive type of communicative action,

characterized by: a socially recognized communicative

purpose & a common aspects of form".

*JoAnne Yates and Wanda J. Orlikowski, "Genres of Organizational Communication: A Structurational Approach to Studying Communication and Media, Academy of Management Review, 17 (April 1992), 299-326.

Definition: Genres Genres emerge as a response to a

purpose: the advertising brochure emerged as a genre because of a

need to quickly and easily distribute information about businesses and services.

Genres, on the web…

…the style and genre issue impacts both the design of the site structure and the information (information design).

What does a genre communicate?

Not just the content, but how it can be used, and how the content will be delivered.

Genres on the InternetFrom physical form to virtual form: On the web, we don’t have physical forms that give us cues

about genres. So we have to convey the genre through the

information design and site structure.

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/images/newspaper.jpg

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2007-10-25-BloggingheadsonNYT.JPG

Let’s look at some sites What is the genre?

New, internet-specific genres: search engines, the search page

Different kinds of sites: MOMA is different from Fresh Direct, why?

Or PC vs Mac? Genres also convey a narrative. Does the Apple site

represent a genre? What is its narrative?

http://www.fark.com/

Real world architecture:The Government Office Genre The White House: what does this structure

convey about the contents, the function?

Real world architecture: Compared to Mayor Bloomberg's office: What does this style say about his site, his

company, and the way he governs the city?