ArchStudio is primarily a Software and Systems Architecture development environment. ArchStudio is easier to design architectures when compared to similar development using other development environments such as Eclipse or visual studio. Software and system architectures are represented in Architecture Description Languages (ADL’s) (ArchStudio 5, n.d.). However in those environments the primary development facts are software development code. In ArchStudio the primary development facts are architecture descriptions. Within that context arch studio plays two important roles. First a “Modeling Environment” as this arch studio can be used for modeling, visualizing, analyzing, and applying or implementing software and system architecture. In ArchStudio, one can use easy to build components, connectors, and interfaces to design an architecture. Second It supports “Meta-Modeling Environment” that is allowing stakeholder to extend the environment to better suit their own needs.
As a modeling environment, architecture modeling takes primary role in arch studio that is allowing stakeholders to document the principal decisions of systems. All the Architecture models are stored and manipulated in an open, XML-based format. ArchStudio also have powerful meta-modeling capabilities every aspect of arch studio we built is constructed to be extensible by developers and stakeholders. ArchStudio uses an extensible notation and you can add new features to the language by adding new standard XML schema to capture new data or more detail. “ArchStudio uses xADL which is an XML based ADL”. (ArchStudio 5, n.d.)
Multiple tools are available for visualizing architecture models such as ArchEdit and Archipelago. Along with extensible notation the visualizations and editors are also extensible. In particular in Archipelago visual editor it has an extensible plug-in mechanism for adding and editing support for new language modules.
ARCHSTUDIO 5 