The C4 model is appealing in several respects. It is a good starting point for application modeling with a reservation because it can be a bit too much of a code description at a detailed level rather than a functional description. // Prime Arch
The C4 model
Background and introduction
The C4 model was created by Simon Brown, an independent consultant and author specializing in software architecture. The C4 model is a formalization of Simon's way of visualizing software architecture, something that has evolved over the years.
The C4 model has been inspired by UML, Unified Modeling Language and can be seen as a simplification of the underlying concepts.
The C4 model is designed to:
- make it easier for system developers to describe and understand how software works
- reduce the gap between software system models and source code descriptions.
Chart types
The C4 model comprises a total of 7 diagram types, of which 4 are so-called Core Diagrams and 3 pcs are so-called Supplement Diagrams
Core Diagrams
Supplement Diagrams
Meta objects and symbol
The C4 model does not really prescribe any special symbols, but in the online tool Structurizr, developed by the founder of the C4 model Simon Brown, there are the following symbols:
The C4 model and Prime Arch
Some observations from Prime Arch:
- Modeling principles: C4 focuses on simple powerful models. The target group is mainly developers and software architects.
- Levels: 4 levels, from context at system level to different code descriptions, which actually refer to functionality or information
- Meta objects: The term "meta objects" does not occur but instead speaks of "abstractions" but it is the same thing that is meant.C4 has 4 different meta objects: Person, Software System, Container and Component. Symbols are not said to be important but there is still support for different symbols, mainly for different types of Containers.
- Diagram: Models are visualized on 4 different levels: Context, Container, Component and Code
Mapping of levels
The C4 model's 4 levels correspond very well with Prime Arch's 5 levels. The difference is that C4 lacks Prime Arch's level 1 and that other levels are thus shifted one step.
