We posted our Architecture Meta Frame Cheat Sheet to CodePlex as part of our Application Architecture Knowledge Base.   The Architecture Meta Frame (AMF) is a lens to help you quickly navigate the application architecture space.  You can think of it as bringing together some of the important factors that shape applications.  You can also use it as a way to help find hot spots for focusing your architecture efforts.

Architecture Meta Frame (AMF)
The Architecture Meta Frame integrates context, application types, architecture styles, and an architecture frame to help map out the application architecture space.

The Architecture Meta Frame serves as a durable, evolvable backdrop for the guidance in the patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0.

Key Features of the Architecture Meta Frame
Here’s a summary of the Architecture Meta Frame:

• Scenarios. Application scenarios tie architecture solutions to the real world scenarios that impact your application design.
• Quality Attributes. Quality attributes represent cross-cutting concerns that apply across application types, and should be considered regardless of architecture style. Security, performance, maintainability, and reusability are examples of quality attributes.
• Requirements and Constraints. Requirements and constraints narrow the range of possible solutions for your application architecture problems.
• Application Types. Application types categorize the major application technology stacks on the Microsoft platform. Examples of application types include Mobile, Rich Internet Application (RIA), Services Application, and Web Application.
• Architecture Styles. An architectural style is a collection of principles that shapes the design of your application. Many of these styles overlap and can be used in combination. Architectural styles tend to be tied both to the application type as well as to the point in time in which the application was developed.
• Architecture Frame. The architecture frame is a collection of hot spots you can use to analyze your application architecture. This helps you turn core features such as caching, data access, validation, and workflow into actions.

You can read more about the Architecture Meta Frame in Cheat Sheet – Architecture Meta Frame (AMF) on CodePlex.

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