MNW #037: Visualize Your Software Architecture With The C4 Model

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Software architecture diagrams are a great way to communicate how you are planning to build a software system or how an existing software system works.

However, the majority of software architecture diagrams I've seen are a total mess.

If only there was a standard way to visualize your software architecture...

Enter the C4 model, which stands for context, containers, components, and code.

The C4 model is a lightweight approach to describing your software architecture.

And it's essentially just two things, a predefined set of common abstractions and four diagram types:

Context diagram - high-level view of the system
Container diagram - shows the objects running inside a system
Component diagram - shows the building blocks that make each container
Code diagram - rarely used, typically UML or ER diagram

Let's see how we can use the C4 model to visualize our software architecture.

First You Need Abstractions

Before we dive into the C4 diagrams, we first need to understand the ubiquitous language of the C4 model.

"A software system is made up of one or more containers (applications and data stores), each of which contains one or more components, which in turn are implemented by one or more code elements (classes, interfaces, objects, functions, etc). And people may use the software systems that we build."

The C4 model defines a set of abstractions that you can use to describe your software systems:

Person - the end user using your system
Software system - highest level of abstraction that delivers value to end users
Container - applications and data stores that make up a system
Component - building blocks/modules that make up the container

With these high-level concepts in place, let's take a look at how to use them in our C4 diagrams.

System Context Diagram

The System Context diagram is a high-level view of your software system.

It shows your software system as the central part, and any external systems and users that your system interacts with.

It should be technology agnostic, and the focus on the people and software systems instead of low-level details.

The intended audience for the System Context Diagram is everybody.

If you can show it to non-technical people and they are able to understand it, then you know you're on the right track.

Container Diagram

When you zoom into one software system, you get to the Container diagram.

Your software system is comprised of multiple running parts - containers.

A container can be a:

Web application
Single-page application
Database
File system
Object store
Message broker

You can look at a container as a deployment unit that executes code or stores data.

The Container diagram shows the high-level view of the software architecture and the major technology choices.

The Container diagram is intended for technical people inside and outside of the software development team:

Software architects
Developers
Operations/support staff

Component Diagram

Next you can zoom into an individual container to decompose it into its building blocks.

The Component diagram show the individual components that make up a container:

What each of the components are
The technology and implementation details

The Component diagram is intended for software architects and developers.

Code Diagram

Finally, you can zoom into each component to show how it is implemented with code, typically using a UML class diagram or an ER diagram.

This level is rarely used as it goes into too much technical detail for most use cases.

However, there are supplementary diagrams that can be useful to fill in missing information by showcasing:

Sequence of events
Deployment information
How systems interact at a higher level

It's only recommended for the most important or complex components.

Of course, the target audience are software architects and developers.

Takeaway

The C4 model is a tool for visual and verbal communication, enabling your team to talk in the same language and have a common understanding of the design.

It's valuable for many reasons, to name a few:

Product and business people benefit from understanding user behavior at the Context level
Context and Container diagrams provide a simple view of how software systems work
New developers can quickly understand system flows

Now that you understand what the C4 model is, there's one question left to answer.

Should you use the C4 model to express your software architecture?

I can't give you a definitive answer.

I used it with a lot of success.

But I think you should at least give it a try. And a great tool for creating C4 diagrams is IcePanel.

You can learn more about the C4 model here.

Thank you for reading, and have an awesome Saturday.

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