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
Inner Loop	concept	Inner Loop & Outer Loop	The edit-build-test cycle a developer repeats dozens of times an hour, entirely on their own machine or environment.
Inner Loop Latency	metric	Inner Loop & Outer Loop	The time from changing a line to observing its effect, repeated dozens of times a day and therefore the highest-leverage number in developer experience.
Inner-Loop Multiplier Frequency Times Duration, Daily Friction Cost	concept	Inner Loop & Outer Loop	The reason inner-loop friction dominates developer productivity - the loop runs dozens of times a day, so a small duration difference multiplies into hours, while the outer loop runs a few times.