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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture arc42 | ![]() Knowledge Modeling Competency Questions | ![]() Architecture Views and Beyond | ![]() Architecture C4 Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | Competency Questions translate a domain model into concrete questions that it must be able to answer. The method keeps the model's scope clean and prevents pretty but useless structures. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 Tage | 2-4 h | 1-3 Tage | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-4 | 2-8 | 1-4 | 1-5 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Competency Question Set, Required Concepts, Test Queries, Coverage Matrix | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | OntologyKnowledge graphScopeRequirementsSemantic | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization |



