Question

In the study of algorithms, computational complexity is used to describe the overall efficiency of a problem solution relative to how long it takes to compute a solution.

Independent of algorithmic complexity, how much do you think the architectural design and structure of a system, particularly a large-scale software-intensive system, affect its performance? Explain your rationale.

Answer 1

Computational complexity is quite important in designing a robust system but it alone can't guarantee a robust system.
Good architectural design and the structure of the system ensure seamless interaction between various software components in the system.
The other advantages of the system are:

• A modular system with seperate modules for all its functions is much more efficient than a monolithic system. The modular system is easy to debug and gives better performance. The reusability aspect is also better in a modular system.
• A system designed for interacting in different types of environments and platforms will perform much better in than systems whose designing doesn't involve these aspects. The systems will be much better in the scaling aspect and will not require significant changes when they are being deployed in different environments.
• Systems that are secured by having safety features in its design tend to outperform systems with security vulnerabilities.
• The systems interacting with a lot of third-party systems tend to be slower than internal systems that have less third-party dependencies. The lag from the third party systems tends to slow down the system performance.
• Systems made by using the latest technologies and architecture systems generally tend to be faster than the systems which are made using the old architecture and technologies.