When Simplicity Outscales Cleverness in Software Architecture

Abstract

The greater the number of software systems and the expressiveness of people on a team, the more likely the choice of smart abstractions or coupled design can make the maintenance of a system more challenging. The current paper will look at the software architecture supports of simplicity, regarding scalability, maintenance and operation efficiency. These are twenty software systems with ten of them being complex architectures and the remaining ten being simple designs. The Architectural Complexity Index (ACI) averaged 48.2 regarding complex systems, and 22.7 regarding simple systems. The System Maintainability Score (SMS) was 0.38 and the complex and simple architectures was 0.52 and 0.78 respectively. Quantitative facts show that various simpler architectures are simpler to maintain, debug, and are predictable regarding deployments. In our study, we emphasize the fact that, simplicity is not a limitation to innovation, but an achievable solution in the development of lasting systems. Clear module delimitation, low abstraction and predictability would aid in guaranteeing long-term system health as well as high quality scaling of both frontend and cloud deployments.