java VS c4-notation

Structurizr is used for describing and visualizing architecture using the C4 model. One of the main selling points is the fact you can define an entire (IT) architecture model using text. A typical model consists of:

I've been using https://structurizr.com/ to automatically generate C4 diagrams from a model (rather than drawing them by hand). It works well with the approach for written documentation as proposed in https://arc42.org/. It's very easy to embed a C4 diagram into a markdown document.

The result is a set of documents and diagrams under version control that can be rendered using the structurizr documentation server (for interactive diagrams and indexed search).

I also use https://d2lang.com/ for declarative diagrams in addition to C4, e.g., sequence diagrams and https://adr.github.io/ for architectural decision records. These are also well integrated into structurizr.

Structurizr, available at https://structurizr.com/ and also has a free plan available with a single workspace available, is a tool that allows you to build out a C4 model using its Structurizr DSL to outline the Containers, Components, and Contexts of the architecture. It is a valuable tool for designing and visualizing a software architecture. In this example we'll build out a simple Machine Learning Pipeline, I mean a very basic one, featuring an ETL Pipeline and a model that trains images that classifies it as a image of planet earth or not. To begin, lets define our work space.

Structurizr builds upon "diagrams as code", allowing you to create multiple diagrams from a single model using a number of tools and programming languages.

As a customer since 2021, is this re-launch HN?

Loved the concept, found it fell over for real-sized things on even the most powerful machines, had to switch to Structurizr to do our C4 modeling: https://structurizr.com/

Was very disappointed, bet I'd get more devs to model architecture with this tool. If it's relaunching because perf problems were resolved, will look forward to try it again.

Depending on scope of people's needs, either highly recommended or, try it first.

Hats off to Victor for great support back then, and I see the docs are a reflection of that, like this section on embedding into popular tools:

https://docs.icepanel.io/features/sharing#embedding-share-li...

TL;DR: Helpful team, thoughtful UI, thoughtful docs, a product capability (c4 modeling) very worth understanding and using.

He built a tool called Structurizr for this.

Ah this is like https://structurizr.com which is based on C4.

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