The beauty of software architecture
Aldenhoven CM., Engelschall RS.
The concept of beauty has fascinated humans since the beginning of their existence. To inspire research questions on the beauty of software architecture, we use the progress in other areas, like civil architecture and plastic surgery. Our most important findings are that practitioners view software architecture as beautiful if it reduces their effort to work with it and that the beauty of software architecture greatly impacts the happiness and motivation of the developers working on it. Overall, this research paper gives insights into the definition of beautiful software architecture in practice and explains its importance. Additionally, we propose ways to create beautiful software architecture and teach it. The focus on beauty in software architecture is essential in mid-to large-sized projects to increase the developers' happiness and, therefore, the quality of the product.