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
Reference Call Practitioner Call, Production Reference Check	practice	Research & Evaluation	A structured conversation with an engineer running the technology in production at your scale, which is the only evidence source that reveals operability, upgrade pain and vendor behaviour before you commit.
Research Skills	practice	Research & Evaluation	Finding out what is true about a technology or a problem, efficiently and without being misled by marketing or by other people's context.
Source Triangulation	practice	Research & Evaluation	Confirming a technical claim from several independent sources of differing type, because most available material is marketing or an unrepresentative anecdote.
Spike Budget Price of Information, Information Purchase Test	practice	Research & Evaluation	The arithmetic that decides whether to buy evidence before committing - comparing the full cost of an investigation against the probability of choosing wrong multiplied by what correcting it later would cost.