The need for an open corpus of software architecture descriptions

Software architectures are the conceptual tool to share information about key aspects of a software system and to enable reasoning about the principal, most fundamental, and often most difficult-to-change design decisions of the system. Studies of failed software systems give evidence that architecture drift, erosion or degradation is a prevalent problem in industrial practice. But a recent systematic literature review [9] indicates that research currently investigates compliance checking or inconsistency detection only. To advance research we need an open and grounded corpus of software architecture description - serving as a basis for more sophisticated studies beyond detection only. Such a corpus could enable (1) to evaluate new approaches, (2) to provide means for fixing degradation (when it occurs or a-posteriori), (3) to compare and benchmark approaches and, ultimately, (4) enable longitudinal studies in the field.