Terminology

2185 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 areas2185 Architecture Fundamentals77 Distributed Systems107 Data Architecture110 Cloud Architecture89 Networking88 API & Integration Architecture82 Reliability & Resilience75 Observability70 Performance & Capacity Engineering72 Security Architecture81 Cost Architecture & FinOps66 Business Architecture67 Architecture Communication67 Enterprise Architecture66 Legacy Modernization66 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 concept785 practice729 pattern362 metric125 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

3 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Developer Portal	tool	APIs as Products	The self-service surface where consumers discover APIs, read documentation, obtain credentials and test calls — the main determinant of adoption.
OpenAPI Swagger	tool	API & Integration	A machine-readable specification format for HTTP APIs, from which documentation, clients, servers, mocks and validation can be generated.
Schema Registry	tool	Schema Registry	A central service holding message schemas with enforced compatibility rules, so a producer cannot publish a change that breaks its consumers.