Software Architecture Diagrams with C4 Model
Diagrams should be effortless to create and update, ensuring everyone has access to the latest information.
A picture is worth a thousand words
We've all experienced joining a complex project where deciphering the codebase feels like reading a whole novel. Engineers are code wizards, but even the best get lost in sprawling code. The challenge is that architecture diagrams (if they even exist) are often outdated relics from a bygone era.
This is why creating and maintaining clear diagrams should be effortless. Up-to-date visuals ensure everyone stays on the same page, eliminating confusion and wasted time.
C4 Model
The C4 model was created as a way to help software development teams describe and communicate software architecture.
C4 stands for “Context, Containers, Components, and Code”. Those are four levels that should be enough to describe a complex system.
The best way to explain the concept is to think about how we use Google Maps. When we are exploring an area in Google Maps, we will often start zoomed out to help us get context. Once we find the rough area we are interested in we can zoom in to get a little more detail.
Level 1: Context
This level is the most zoomed out, it is a bird’s eye view of the system in the context of the world. The diagram concentrates on actors and systems.
