Is n-tier software design a subset of SOA?

Question

Is n-tier software design a subset of SOA?

Answer 1

no . It is not .

SOA is a design strategy for an enterprise. There is lots written about what it is elsewhere, however it decides how systems interact using services.

N-tier software architecture is application specific. It assists maintainability and scalability by separating layers of code.

They are aimed at different components of Information Technology and have different goals and benefits.

Answer 2

No.

For a start N-Tier is older than SOA, and they are quite different concepts.

N-tier architecture splits an application into seperate tiers with a disctinct concern. The tiers should allow minimum application rewrite if, for example, the front-end changes from a Windows application to web application.

SOA is a broader concept, that tries to encapsulate individual business services and expose them to each other using an agreed contract. These individual services may be built using an N-tier architecture.