Structure101 is a computer program known as an ADE, or Architecture Development Environment, that allows teams of software developers to organize a codebase.
Structure101 provides the ability for architects to work directly with the team to maintain architecture diagrams, rules and action lists that optimally organize a codebase. Here are some fantastic examples of alternatives to Structure101:
1)ArchStudio
For those who aren’t interested in spending the $1,150 required for a one-year license and support for Structure101, ArchStudio is a fantastic open source alternative. It was designed by the Institute for Software Research at the University of Southern California and offers up plenty of fantastic tools such as architecture modeling, visualization and analysis. It also utilizes xADL so that users can easily alter the syntax and semantics to fit their unique needs. It is absolutely free to download and install as a binary distribution, and it can be found at http://isr.uci.edu/projects/archstudio/index.
2)AltovaMissionKit
The AltovaMissionKit, which can be found at http://www.altova.com/solutions/software-architecture, is another great Structure101 alternative that offers plenty in the way of visual software architecture design. With it, users get drawing and editing aids, code engineering and generation that is completely royalty-free and incredibly fast and powerful conversion functionality. It can be integrated into many popular source control systems as well. Unlike ArchStudio, though, Altova only offers a 30 day free trial. Afterward, users will be expected to pay $1,739 for the Enterprise edition or $869 for the Professional edition.
3)Agilian
Agilian, made available from Visual Paradigm at http://www.visual-paradigm.com/product/ag/, is an all-in-one architecture development environment that includes all of the tools professionals need. It was created to help in the alignment of business strategies, objectives and information systems. In fact, it is easy to incorporate different domain names and business aspects without bugs. It comes with a 30-day free trial, but those who wish to continue using it afterward will need to purchase it. The Enterprise edition, which offers the most tools, starts at $999. The standard edition, however, is priced as low as $299.
4)Wind River Workbench
Wind River Workbench is another great alternative to Structure101 that many users find is easier to use than its counterparts. However, these developer tools can only be used on Wind River platforms. The tools themselves allow users to configure their operating systems, analyze and fine-tune software, and debug entire systems. While it doesn’t offer the same level of architecture design as the other programs, it does come with an entire range of tools that developers are sure to find handy. It can be found at http://www.windriver.com/products/workbench/, but pricing is only provided over the phone after website visitors answer a few simple online questions.
5)Cosmic’s IDEA
Cosmic’s IDEA, which can be downloaded from http://www.cosmic-software.com/PPC_des.php, was designed primarily for cross-development. It provides users with a design architecture environment that is intended to be used with the Power Architecture family of processors. It includes an editor, a project manager, a build facility, program analyzer, link file generator, documentation manager and ZAP debugger. Users are allowed to download an evaluation version from the site; purchases can be made after the evaluation has been completed.
For those who are interested in architecture development software, all of the options listed above are great choices. It is up to the user to decide which of these programs will best suit their requirements.
