Module 4: Software Architecture, Design, and Patterns

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In this post, I provide complete, accurate, and detailed explanations for the answers to Module 4: Software Architecture, Design, and Patterns of Course 1:Introduction to Software Engineering – IBM AI Developer Professional Certificate .

Whether you’re preparing for quizzes or brushing up on your knowledge, these insights will help you master the concepts effectively. Let’s dive into the correct answers and detailed explanations for each question!

Software Architecture and Design

Practice Assignment

1. Which of the following best describes software architecture?

  • It is intended for the developers only.
  • It captures implementation details.
  • The choice of technology stack drives the software architecture.
  • It serves as a blueprint for the developers. ✅

Explanation:
Software architecture defines the high-level structure of a software system and acts as a blueprint for development and implementation.

2. Which of the following should be included in the software design document (SDD)?

  • Constraints and dependencies ✅
  • Code
  • Object definitions
  • Test cases

Explanation:
An SDD includes design constraints, system dependencies, and architectural decisions—not code or test cases.

3. Components in a well-structured design should be ___________________.

  • tightly coupled
  • loosely coupled ✅
  • tightly constrained
  • loosely cohesive

Explanation:
Loose coupling allows components to be independent and easily maintainable, improving scalability and testability.

4. Which of the following is an advantage of using UML diagrams when designing software architecture?

  • They help plan out structures and behaviors in advance of coding.
  • They help facilitate communication among team members.
  • They help developers navigate source code.
  • All of the above ✅

Explanation:
UML diagrams help with planning, communication, and understanding code structure, especially in large projects.

5. What is the blueprint of an object called?

  • An instance
  • A method
  • A class ✅
  • A property

Explanation:
A class defines the structure and behavior (blueprint) of objects in object-oriented programming.

Software Architecture Patterns and Deployment Topologies

Practice Assignment

6. Which of the following is a characteristic of a distributed system?

  • It contains multiple services that coordinate interactions using a communication protocol such as HTTP. ✅
  • It is an individual unit of encapsulated functionality.
  • It focuses on the decomposition of a design into logical components.
  • It is an interface for a database.

Explanation:
Distributed systems consist of independent services or nodes that communicate over protocols like HTTP, allowing for scalability and flexibility.

7. Which term is best described by the statement, “entails the ability to add behavior to a component without changing other components?”

  • Encapsulation
  • Reusable
  • Independent
  • Extensibility ✅

Explanation:
Extensibility refers to the system’s ability to add new capabilities or features without modifying existing code.

8. True or false? A software application’s architecture can be designed as both peer-to-peer and event-driven.

  • True ✅
  • False

Explanation:
Architectural styles can be combined. For example, a peer-to-peer architecture can use event-driven communication between nodes.

9. Which of the following best describes a staging environment?

  • It is intended for general users.
  • It replicates the production environment, but is not intended for general users. ✅
  • It is intended for the developers to use while they are actively coding the application.
  • It is for the QA team to test the application’s individual components.

Explanation:
A staging environment mimics the production setup and is used for final testing before release, but it’s not accessible to end users.

10. What does the production environment take into account that pre-production environments do not?

  • Buggy code
  • Load ✅
  • Functional requirements
  • Permissions

Explanation:
The production environment experiences real user load, which pre-production environments usually simulate but don’t fully replicate.

Graded Quiz: Software Architecture, Design, and Deployment Topologies

Graded Assignment

11. Which of the following best describes software architecture?

  • It describes how the application should be coded.
  • The choice of technology stack drives the software architecture.
  • It represents the earliest design decisions. ✅
  • It captures implementation details.

Explanation:
 Software architecture defines the high-level structure and early decisions that guide the development process.

12. Which of the following are artifacts that result from designing the software architecture?

  • Administrator user guide
  • Software requirements specification (SRS)
  • UML diagrams ✅
  • Test cases

Explanation:
UML diagrams (Unified Modeling Language) visually represent the architecture, such as class structure, component interactions, and workflows.

13. Components in a well-structured design should be ___________________.

  • loosely coupled ✅
  • loosely constrained
  • tightly coupled
  • loosely cohesive

Explanation:
 Loose coupling ensures that components are independent, making maintenance and updates easier without affecting the entire system.

14. Which of the following is an advantage of using UML diagrams when designing software architecture?

  • They describe which parameters should be passed when instantiating an object.
  • They serve to bring new team members up to speed quickly. ✅
  • They explain which methods should be included when coding an object.
  • They all use JavaScript.

Explanation:
 UML diagrams help communicate design clearly, making onboarding and understanding easier for new developers.

15. Which of the following best describes encapsulation?

  • A component should be easily replaced with another component.
  • A component’s design so it doesn’t have dependencies on other components.
  • Bundling data and methods to hide an internal state, so a component’s specific implementation is not exposed. ✅
  • Designing a component so it operates in different environments.

Explanation:
Encapsulation hides internal implementation details and exposes only necessary interfaces, promoting modularity and security.

16. Which of the following best describes a service?

  • A service defines, composes, and implements loosely coupled independent components so they work together to create an application. 
  • A unit of functionality that focuses on a solution to a business need, is deployed independently, and is reused by multiple systems. ✅
  • A focus on the decomposition of a design into logical components.
  • It is a type of object.

Explanation:
In service-oriented architecture, a service is a reusable, independent component that fulfills a specific business function.

17. Which statement is true regarding a 2-tier architecture?

  • A 2-tier architecture consists of a decentralized network of nodes that are both clients and servers.
  • The interface resides on client machines and makes requests to a server for data or services. ✅
  • The two different tiers are the application tier and the data tier.
  • A 2-tier architecture consists of producers and consumers of events.

Explanation:
In 2-tier architecture, the client tier handles presentation, while the server tier handles data access and processing.

18. Which of the following architecture patterns are mutually exclusive?

  • Peer-to-peer and event-driven
  • Peer-to-peer and two-tier ✅
  • Microservices and event-driven
  • Three-tier and microservices

Explanation:
 Peer-to-peer systems do not follow the client-server model of two-tier systems, making them mutually exclusive architectural approaches.

19. Which of the following environments is intended for developers to use while they are actively coding the application?

  • QA
  • Development ✅
  • Production
  • Staging

Explanation:
The development environment is used by developers for writing and testing code before it moves to testing or staging.

20. Which of the following is a security device that monitors traffic between an internal and an external network?

  • Firewall ✅
  • Load balancer
  • Router
  • Web server

Explanation:
A firewall controls and monitors incoming and outgoing traffic, helping to protect internal networks from unauthorized access.

Related contents:

Module 1: The Software Development Lifecycle
Module 2: Introduction to Software Development
Module 3: Basics of Programming
Module 5: Job Opportunities and Skillsets in Software Engineering
Module 6: Final Quiz and Final Project

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