Terminology

2205 terms, tools, patterns and metrics an architect is expected to use precisely. Each one gets a short explanation of what it is, and — where it matters — what it is commonly confused with. Search filters as you type; the column headers sort.

All areas2205 Architecture Fundamentals77 Distributed Systems107 Data Architecture110 Cloud Architecture94 Networking88 API & Integration Architecture82 Reliability & Resilience75 Observability70 Performance & Capacity Engineering72 Security Architecture86 Cost Architecture & FinOps71 Business Architecture67 Architecture Communication67 Enterprise Architecture66 Legacy Modernization71 AI-Era Architecture69 Software Architecture & Engineering71 Architecture Patterns71 Architecture Decision-Making63 The Architect's Meta-Skills61 Delivery & Release Engineering66 Platform Engineering & Developer Experience70 Testing & Quality Architecture66 Data Platform Architecture64 Streaming & Real-Time Data69 Data Governance & Semantics69 Frontend & Experience Architecture66 Edge, Mobile & IoT68 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture65 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk64

Kind Any concept794 practice734 pattern368 metric125 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

4 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Counter Reset Handling Monotonic Counter Semantics, Rate Reset Compensation	concept	Metrics	The rule that a decrease in a cumulative counter is interpreted as a process restart rather than as negative work, which is what allows rates to survive deploys and what makes gauges-as-counters silently wrong.
Counter, Gauge and Histogram	concept	Metrics	The three fundamental metric types, distinguished by what they represent over time and by which aggregations are valid.
Metric Staleness Staleness Marker, Stale Series	concept	Metrics	The rules deciding how long a time series keeps answering queries after it stops being written - which determines whether a dead process's last value is served as current, and whether an alert on a vanished se…
Metrics	concept	Metrics	Cheap pre-aggregated numeric time series — excellent for knowing something is wrong, structurally unable to tell you which request.