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| Criterion |  Architecture arc42 |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | 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 | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-4 | 3-20 Reviewer | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram |
Tags1 shared | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization |