Was listening to a podcast the other day in which one of the authors of the Microsoft patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide was speaking about this latest version so I decide to take a look. So far I am very impressed as the information seems to do a fairly good job of coupling desgin guidlines for applications with some of the latest technologies.

The guide breaks architecture down into 4 parts.

Part I - Fundamentals

• Fundamentals of Application Architecture
• .NET Platform Overview
• Architecture and Design Guidlines

Part II - Desgin

• Designing Your Architecture
• Deployment Patterns
• Architecture Styles
• Quality Attributes
• Communication Guidelines

Part III - Layers

• Layers and Tiers
• Presentation Layer Guidelines
• Business Layer Guidelines
• Data Access Layer Guidelines
• Service Layer Guidelines

Part IV - Achetypes

• Application Archetypes
• Web Applications
• Rich Internet Applications (RIA)
• Services
• Mobile Applications
• Office Business Applications (OBA)
• SharePoint LOB Applications

Also the Appendix offers some great advice using a Matrix apporoach to various technologies.

Data Technology Matrix - Provides matrix of old and new technology options such as ADO.NET, Entity Framework, LINQ to SQL and more.

Check out the website on codeplex

Also here is a link to pocket guides based on the Application Architecture Guide but geared towards Web Architecture, Mobile Architecture, RIA Architecture, Rich Client Architecture, Service Architecture.

Check out pocket guides on codeplex