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

5 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Continuous Controls Monitoring CCM	practice	Continuous Controls Monitoring	Automatically testing control effectiveness continuously across the whole population, rather than through periodic manual sampling.
Control Coverage Assurance Coverage, Estate Coverage	concept	Continuous Controls Monitoring	The proportion of the actual estate a control operates on - the metric that determines whether monitoring provides assurance or false confidence.
Control Test Automation	practice	Continuous Controls Monitoring	Executing a control's test continuously against the whole population rather than sampling it annually, which changes both the detection latency and the strength of the evidence.
Coverage Drift Shrinking Scope, Control Reach Decay	concept	Continuous Controls Monitoring	A control operating perfectly on a diminishing share of the estate - passing every assessment of the systems it covers while providing progressively less assurance overall.
Sampling Risk Detection Probability, Audit Sampling Power	metric	Continuous Controls Monitoring	The probability that a sample-based control test misses a violation that exists in the population - which for small samples and rare violations is most of the time.