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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
Airbnb: Monorail to Service-Oriented Architecture Airbnb SOA Migration case-study Application Decomposition Airbnb decomposed a large Rails monolith into services, and the difficult part was data ownership rather than code extraction.
Application Decomposition practice Application Decomposition Breaking a large application into parts — where finding the seam matters more than the extraction technique.
Characterisation Test Golden Master Test, Approval Test, Behaviour Snapshot practice Application Decomposition A test that records what a system currently does - bugs included - rather than what it should do, providing the safety net that makes changing an untested legacy system possible at all.
Decomposition by Capability practice Application Decomposition Breaking a monolithic system into parts along business capability lines rather than technical layers, so that each part changes for one reason.