Unveiling Architecture Documentation: Brazilian Stakeholders in Perspective

TL;DR

This paper surveys Brazilian software industry stakeholders to identify current challenges and future needs in architecture documentation, emphasizing the importance of updated information, automation, and cultural change for improved practices.

Contribution

It provides insights into Brazilian stakeholders' needs and highlights the necessity of cultural change and automation in architecture documentation processes.

Findings

Brazilian stakeholders require updated architecture documents.

Automation can reduce documentation effort.

Active stakeholder participation is essential for effective documentation.

Abstract

Over the years, software architecture has become a established discipline, both in academia and industry, and the interest on software architecture documentation has increased. In this context, the improvement of methods, tools, and techniques around architecture documentation is of paramount importance. We conducted a survey with 147 industrial participants (31 from Brazil), analyzing their current problems and future wishes. We identified that Brazilian stakeholders need updated architecture documents with the right information. Finally, the automation of some parts of the documentation will reduce the effort during the creation of the documents. But first, is necessary to change the culture of the stakeholders. They have to participate actively in the architecture documents creation.