An exploratory study of architectural practices and challenges in using agile software development approaches

Agile software development approaches have recently gained popularity as a mechanism for reducing cost and increasing ability to handle change in dynamic market conditions. However, there is also a significant concern about the role and importance of the issues related to the software architecture of a system being developed using agile approaches. There is to date little empirical evidence available on what software architecture related practices are followed by teams using agile approaches and the kinds of architectural challenges resulting from using agile approaches. This paper reports a case study aimed to empirically identify and understand the architectural practices and challenges of teams using agile approaches. The findings provide useful information about the researched issues and also highlight the areas that need to be focused on for integrating agile and architecture-centric approaches.