I.1 What is arc42?

arc42 is a template for architecture documentation.

It answers the following two questions in a pragmatic way, but can be tailored to your specific needs:

• What should we document/communicate about our architecture?
• How should we document/communicate it?

Figure 1.1 gives you the big picture: it shows a (slightly simplified) overview of the structure of arc42:

Figure 1.1: Structure of arc42

Compare arc42 to a cabinet with drawers: the drawers are clearly marked with labels indicating the content of each drawer. arc42 contains 12 such drawers (a few more than you see in the diagram that follows). The meaning of these arc42 drawers is easy to understand:

Figure 1.2: arc42 drawers

arc42 offers you a simple and clear structure to document and communicate your (complex!) system. Starting with the goals and requirements of your system and how its embedded into its environment, you can provide the important stakeholders of...