Other kinds of architectural diagrams

As we discovered in the previous section, the first sketches of a piece of architecture often end up as an intuitive and naïve view, lacking essential details. In this section, we will look at an overview of different types of architectural diagrams. This will help us to pick the right diagram for the right situation, defining a clearer view of our architecture. So, let’s dig into some details.

Common types of architectural diagrams

In order to define a clearer and more detailed view of what our software will look like, it’s essential to start picking layers and points of view to represent. This will naturally lead us to focus on more tailored designs. While not exhaustive, a list of possible architectural diagrams includes the following:

• Software components: This kind of schema includes different software modules (such as applications or other components) and the interaction between them (for example, read from, write to, listen, and more). One particular instance of this diagram could include protocols and formats of communication between those components, becoming close to a complete API documentation:

Figure 1.2 – Software components diagram

• Network architecture: This is a pretty common design type and is often considered the more scientific and detailed one. It includes data such as network segments (DMZ and INTRANET), Firewall, IP addressing, and more:

Figure 1.3 – Network architecture diagram

• Physical architecture: This is a mapping of software modules into server deployments. Usually, it’s complete with information about the server hardware and model. In the case of a multiple datacenter setup (which is pretty common in enterprise environments), it can also contain details about racks and rooms. Storage is another relatively common component. Depending on the implementation, this architecture might include information about virtualization technology (for example, the mapping of VMS to the physical servers that are hosting it). Additionally, it could, where relevant, include references to cloud or container deployments:

Figure 1.4 – Physical architecture diagram

These are the very basic points of view in an architecture diagram and an essential starting point when detailing the design of your application. Diving further into the application specification life, other kinds of diagrams, often derivatives of those, could be elaborated (for example, cloud deployment diagrams, software modules, and more) depending on your specific needs. In the next section, we will focus on Java technology, which is the other fundamental topic of this book and crucial for completing our architectural view of modern applications.