Software Artifacts

What exactly are software artifacts? Put simply, a software artifact is a file that exists as part of some software system. The most common software artifacts are source code files and executable files. What isn't usually considered an artifact, however, is the logical design of the system.

It sounds strange that the system design isn't considered a software artifact but in most cases, it is the truth. The design of any software system is implicitly captured in the source code files. Because without the system design, there wouldn't be any source code files because they would have no reason to exist.

If the software system is modeled with UML, shouldn't the model files themselves be considered software artifacts. I would like to think so. Especially since they do a better job of making the system design explicit than the source code does.

Additionally, UML models can also make the software artifacts of the modeled system explicit. That is, you can have meta-artifacts. This of course assumes that the model itself is considered an artifact. If it sounds too confusing, it really doesn't have to be. UML artifact elements can help illuminate where in the model these artifacts, usually source code files, are expressed as a logical design.