Quality Attribute Analysis Flashcards

Which quality attribute scenario component describes the stimulus that triggers a system response?

Answer: Source

The source is the entity (person, system, or event) that generates the stimulus in a quality attribute scenario.

A system must recover from a database failure and resume normal operations within 30 seconds. Which quality attribute does this scenario primarily address?

Answer: Availability

Availability is concerned with system uptime and recovery time from failures, measured here by a 30-second recovery window.

What is the primary purpose of a quality attribute utility tree in architecture evaluation?

Answer: To prioritize quality attributes by business value and risk

A utility tree organizes and prioritizes quality attribute scenarios based on their business importance and technical risk.

Which architectural tactic directly addresses the modifiability quality attribute by reducing dependencies between modules?

Answer: Encapsulation

Encapsulation hides internal implementation details, reducing coupling and making modules easier to modify independently.

In the context of quality attribute analysis, what does 'response measure' define?

Answer: The quantifiable criterion used to assess whether a response is acceptable

The response measure provides a testable, quantifiable criterion — such as latency in milliseconds — to determine if the system's response meets requirements.

Which quality attribute is MOST directly impacted by the use of a circuit breaker pattern?

Answer: Availability

Circuit breakers prevent cascading failures by stopping calls to a failing service, thereby improving overall system availability.

An architect must ensure that a system can be tested with 80% code coverage using automated unit tests. This requirement is best classified under which quality attribute?

Answer: Testability

Testability refers to the ease with which a system can be verified through testing, and code coverage targets are a direct testability measure.