Terminology

2225 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 areas2225 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 Architecture74 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 Architecture69 Streaming & Real-Time Data69 Data Governance & Semantics74 Frontend & Experience Architecture66 Edge, Mobile & IoT68 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture65 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk69

Kind Any concept801 practice736 pattern377 metric127 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

3 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Key Skew	concept	Partition Keys & Ordering	An uneven distribution of records across partitions, which caps throughput at the busiest partition regardless of how many exist.
Partition Count Immutability Fixed Partition Count, Key-to-Partition Remap Hazard	concept	Partition Keys & Ordering	The partition count of a keyed log is effectively permanent, because raising it changes which partition a key hashes to and therefore breaks per-key ordering and every table rebuilt by replaying that log.
Partition Key Skew Hot Partition, Key Skew	concept	Partition Keys & Ordering	One partition receiving disproportionate traffic because a small number of key values dominate, capping throughput at what a single consumer can handle.