Chapter 23 — Diagramming Architecture

Core ideas

• Diagramming and presenting are core (and undervalued) architect skills. Standards and tools: UML (legacy), C4 (Context, Container, Component, Code — Simon Brown), ArchiMate, and arc42.
• Diagramming guidelines: titles on every diagram, consistent line/arrow semantics (and label them), consistent shapes, meaningful use of color/keys, avoid ambiguity.
• Presentation (Neal Ford’s influence): “death by PowerPoint” anti-patterns; use incremental builds/transitions to control what the audience sees; “bullet-riddled corpse” (slides that are just bullets) is bad; balance information (the deck) and presentation (you talking). The audience should look at you, not read ahead.

Trade-offs to argue

Fidelity vs. clarity — a diagram that shows everything communicates nothing. Choose the C4 zoom level that matches your audience.