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==Characteristics==
There is a large variety in ADLs developed by either academic or industrial groups. Many languages were not intended to be an ADL, but they turn out to be suitable for representing and analyzing an architecture.
In principle, ADLs differ from requirements languages, because ADLs are rooted in the [[solution space]], whereas requirements describe problem spaces. They differ from programming languages, because ADLs
'''Minimal requirements'''
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Design is the abstraction and specification of patterns and organs of functionality that have been or will be implemented. Architecture is both a degree higher in abstraction and courser in granularity. Consequentially, architecture is also more topological (i.e. overall structure and relationship between components) in nature than design (i.e. specific details and implementation), in that it specifies where major components meet and how they relate to one another. Architecture focuses on the partitioning of major regions of functionality into high level components, where they will physically or virtually reside, what off-the-shelf components may be employed effectively, in general what interfaces each component will expose, what protocols will be employed between them, and what practices and high level patterns may best meet [[extensibility]], [[maintainability]], reliability, durability, [[scalability]], and other non-functional objectives. Design is a detailing of these choices and a more concrete clarification of how functional requirements will be met through the delegation of pieces of that functionality to more granular components and how these smaller components will be organized within the larger ones.
Oftentimes, a portion of architecture is done during the conceptualization of an application, system, or network, and may appear in the non-functional sections of requirement documentation. Canonically, design is not specified in requirements, but is rather driven by them.
The process of defining an architecture may involve heuristics, acquired by the architect or architectural team through experience within the ___domain. As with design, architecture often evolves through a series of iterations, and just as the wisdom of a high level design is often tested when low level design and implementation occurs, the wisdom of an architecture is tested during the specification of a high level design.
In summary, the primary differences between architecture and design are ones of granularity and abstraction, and (consequentially) chronology. (Architecture generally precedes design, although overlap and circular iteration is a common reality.)
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