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

5 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Decision Trigger Revisit Condition, Pre-Agreed Threshold	practice	Managed vs Self-Managed	A number or condition agreed in advance that would cause a decision to be revisited - which converts a permanent choice into a monitored one and prevents both premature change and indefinite drift.
Fully-Loaded Comparison Total Cost Comparison, People-Inclusive TCO, Loaded Build-vs-Buy	practice	Managed vs Self-Managed	Comparing options with engineering time, operational burden and opportunity cost included rather than infrastructure and licence prices alone - which usually reverses the apparent answer at small and medium scale.
Managed versus Self-Managed	practice	Managed vs Self-Managed	Whether to run a component yourself — a decision that should default to managed and require a specific articulated reason to deviate.
Operational Burden Assessment	practice	Managed vs Self-Managed	Quantifying the ongoing engineering effort a self-managed component requires, so it can be compared honestly with a managed service's price.
Spotify: Trading Kafka Operations for a Managed Service Spotify Event Delivery	case-study	Managed vs Self-Managed	Spotify moved its event delivery backbone from self-managed Kafka to a managed pub/sub service, choosing to buy back operational capacity rather than deepen expertise.