原文出处：http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cn/rational/rationaledge/content/mar06/eeles/

总结如下：

一，关于架构的定义，不同的组织都有各自的定义
1，架构是在组件之间以及与环境之间的关系。[IEEE 1471]
    Architecture is the fundamental organization of a system embodied in its components, their relationships to each other, and to the environment, and the principles guiding its design and evolution.

2，架构是对软件系统组织，结构部分和系统包含接口的选择，集合部分的特定行为，较大子系统部分的构成和架构风格的重大决定的设置。
   An architecture is the set of significant decisions about the organization of a software system, the selection of structural elements and their interfaces by which the system is composed, together with their behavior as specified in the collaborations among those elements, the composition of these elements into progressively larger subsystems, and the architectural style that guides this organization -- these elements and their interfaces, their collaborations, and their composition. [Kruchten]

3，系统或计算机的软件架构是包含软件部分，外部可见特性部分，和他们之间关系的系统结构。
   The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and the relationships among them. [Bass et al.]⁵
4，[架构]是系统的组织结构和相关行为。架构可被重复分解为通过接口，互联部分的关系和结合部相互作用的部分。通过接口相互作用的部分包括类，组件和子系统。
    [UML 1.5]⁶   [Architecture is] the organizational structure and associated behavior of a system. An architecture can be recursively decomposed into parts that interact through interfaces, relationships that connect parts, and constraints for assembling parts. Parts that interact through interfaces include classes, components and subsystems. [UML 1.5]⁶

5，软件架构或系统由组成系统的结构的相互作用和软件结构的重要设计决定组成。设计决定应成功实现所期望支持的质量。设计决定为系统开发，支持和维护提供概念上的基础。
   The software architecture of a system or a collection of systems consists of all the important design decisions about the software structures and the interactions between those structures that comprise the systems. The design decisions support a desired set of qualities that the system should support to be successful. The design decisions provide a conceptual basis for system development, support, and maintenance. [McGovern]⁷
 
二，架构的组成和作用
1，一个架构定义结构
2，一个架构定义行为
3，一个架构关注于重要元素
4，一个架构可以平衡涉众需求
5，一个架构基于基本原理体现决策
6，一个架构可以符合一个架构样式。
7，一个架构被其环境所影响
8，一个架构影响团队结构
9，一个架构呈现在每个系统中
10，一个架构拥有特定的范围