plurid VS c4-notation

Been thinking since 2015 how to explore information as a 3D structure: plurid [1]. The stable library is for now only for React.

[1] https://github.com/plurid/plurid

Since 2015 I have been thinking how to explore information as a 3D structure. This thought has led to developing plurid [1], [2], a component library (for React for now) to transform a web page into a rotate-able/translate-able/scale-able space with the content on planes.

[1] Code, https://github.com/plurid/plurid

[2] Demo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV7MWFDVFkk

plurid' is an open-sourced software package to generate 3D user interfaces

I gave this a bit of thought earlier this year (https://alexanderell.is/posts/visualizing-code/) and, with the help of HN commenters, collected a small list of ways people are working to help with code visualization. I don't think most of them are production ready (some are just research papers), but you may find them interesting all the same.

SoftVis3D (https://softvis3d.com/): where a "‘code city’ view provides a visualization for the hierarchical structure of the project".

Code Park: A New 3D Code Visualization Tool (2017) (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1708.02174.pdf), a “novel tool for visualizing codebases in a 3D game-like environment” with code represented as “code rooms” with code on the walls.

Code Structure Visualization Using 3D-Flythrough (2016) (https://opus-htw-aalen.bsz-bw.de/frontdoor/deliver/index/doc...), with spatial metaphors and first-person exploration of code.

Primitive (https://primitive.io/), a VR collaboration startup with a Matrix-looking “Immersive Development Environment” with “new tools for visually analyzing software in 3D”.

AppMap (https://appland.com/docs/how-to-use-appmap-diagrams.html), an automated code analysis tool that includes dependency maps and trace views.

plurid (https://github.com/plurid/plurid), a framework for visualizing and debugging code in a 3D explorable structure.

fsn (file manager) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsn_(file_manager)), an experimental application to view a file system in 3D (featured in Jurassic Park).

What you are describing sounds a lot like C4: https://c4model.com/

The C4 model [0] provides a mostly sensible structure and techniques for representing pure software systems across different abstraction levels.

For systems involving software and hardware, or other complex interfacing (both technology and bureaucracy) this starts to delve into the universe of systems engineering. There's a decent assembly of knowledge on that in the SEBoK [1].

As another commenter has already called out too, one of the most valuable sources of information is also _why_ a system is in its current form and _how_ that's changed over time. ADR's [2] really do a good job at nailing this for just about any scale.

[0]: https://c4model.com

[1]: https://sebokwiki.org

[2]: https://adr.github.io

There a various standards for documenting software architecture, like arc42 or C4. While useful and somewhat well-known (there is certainly a correlation here), here architecture documentation can be further simplified, particularly due to the self-similarity of project and component. Following is a small template, that can also serve as a project's and component's README:

I would suggest that if your architecture diagrams are a bunch of icons provided by AWS/Azure/GCP with lines pointing at each other... you are doing it wrong.

The 'what does this box do for my system' is vastly more important than the 'which in vogue offering from my cloud provider implements it'.

I highly suggest folks take a look at the C4 Model: https://c4model.com/

We often use abstractions in software engineering to communicate complex architectures and software systems. In this article, we’ll discuss how abstractions are inherently hierarchical and how the C4 model provides a nested structure for defining your software architecture. We’ll then cover how IcePanel allows you to create interactive and zoomable diagrams for your audience to zoom in and out of different levels of technical detail.

You probably want https://c4model.com/ which explains what a C4 architecture diagram is. (See the first footnote in the article.)

I looked at the book OP is talking about and it seems to be advocating 'C4' (https://c4model.com/). IMO this is the same kind of block diagrams we end up creating organically. I dunno that I'd call this 'modern' or anything special, it's just what everyone already does. I've done hundreds of these and not once has anyone ever mentioned 'C4' or anything being 'modern'. Shrug