Software architecture
Read, design, and steward systems
Follow the core path in order. Foundations, applied, practice and strategy, then a short summary with games and practice.
- FoundationsSystems, boundaries, responsibilities, and diagrams.
- AppliedDecomposition, styles, and quality attributes.
- Practice & StrategyPlatforms, resilience, governance, and change.
- SummaryRecap, games, labs, and reflection.
What you will learn
Overview
Architecture is decision-making that keeps delivery possible under real constraints. This course builds that judgement from foundations to production.
Your progress
0%0 of 21 sections complete
Time estimate
Architecture improves with deliberate trade-off practice, not with more diagrams.
Architecture decision lifecycle
How strong architecture work stays grounded
Use this cycle to connect business goals, technical design, and learning.
Rendering diagram...
🏗️Core path
Architecture Foundations
Start from what architecture is for, and how to think about components, boundaries and responsibilities in small systems.
Applied Architecture
Layered patterns, microservices, events, data ownership and real trade offs between coupling, performance and changeability.
Digital and Cloud Scale Architecture
Event driven systems, CQRS, integration patterns, observability and digitalisation strategy across whole organisations.
Summary and games
Recap, games, labs, and reflection to consolidate architecture thinking.
Getting started
How to use this course
How to use this architecture course
Use each module to improve decisions, not just diagram output.
- 1
Complete foundations before applied
Keep terminology and reasoning patterns consistent from the start.
- 2
Record one trade-off per module
Capture the evidence needed to defend your choice.
- 3
Stress-test assumptions in labs
Validate design options before drafting an ADR or proposal.
- 4
Use summary practice before final assessments
Sharpen decision quality under realistic constraints.
Hands-on
Quick practice
Quick check
Checkpoint
2 questions
For auditors and CPD
Reference and standards
These panels are for CPD defensibility, standards alignment, and audit evidence. Most learners can skip these entirely and return when they need formal documentation.
Show reference panels7 sections · timing, artefacts, assessment, terminology, standards, mapping, coverage
CPD timing
Time estimate (transparent)
I publish time estimates because CPD needs to be defensible. The goal is honesty, not marketing.
Guided learning
50h
Core levels, structured learning
Practice and consolidation
3h
Summary, drills, revisits
Notional range
36 to 75 hours
Quick: core concepts + one exercise per module. Standard: exercises + reflections for CPD evidence. Deep: extra drills and portfolio artefacts.
How I estimate time
I use a notional learning hours approach and I keep the assumptions visible. Where modules are content heavy, I add practice so the hours are earned, not claimed.
- Reading: 225 words per minute, multiplied by 1.3 for note taking and checking understanding.
- Labs and practice: about 15 minutes per guided activity, including at least one retry.
- Reflection for CPD: about 8 minutes per module for a short defensible note and evidence link.
- Assessments: about 1.4 minutes per question for reading, thinking, and review.
If you study faster or slower, your hours will differ. What matters is that the method is consistent and the activities are real.
Assessment and practice assessment
Software architecture assessment blueprint (planned)
Software architecture already has the deepest question bank documentation in the repo. This panel is the common scaffolding view that will be used across tracks.
Design rules
- Questions should penalise vague words like scalable without a metric or constraint.
- Marking should reward explicit assumptions and clear trade-off reasoning.
Mapping
How this course stays defensible
This links the same four things CPD reviewers care about: what you learn, how you practise, how you are assessed, and what evidence you can show.
Correct diagrams, boundaries, and responsibilities.
Trade-offs, quality attributes, and pattern choice.
Governance, evolution, and operational design.
Coverage matrix
Module-level coverage
This matrix makes the course defensible: each module is tied to an outcome focus, the anchor standards, and the evidence you can produce.
| Level | Module | Outcome focus | Domains | Alignment | Assessment | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | Foundations Discovery Requirements soft-arch-foundations-discovery-requirements Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Architecture Design soft-arch-foundations-architecture-design Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Implementation soft-arch-foundations-implementation Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Verification Testing soft-arch-foundations-verification-testing Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Deployment Cicd soft-arch-foundations-deployment-cicd Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Operations soft-arch-foundations-operations Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Osi Diagnostics soft-arch-foundations-osi-diagnostics Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Ilities Framework soft-arch-foundations-ilities-framework Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Foundations | Foundations Assessment soft-arch-foundations-assessment Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Applied | Intermediate Architecture Styles soft-arch-intermediate-architecture-styles Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Applied | Intermediate Integration And Apis soft-arch-intermediate-integration-and-apis Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Applied | Intermediate Quality Attributes soft-arch-intermediate-quality-attributes Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Applied | Intermediate Data And State soft-arch-intermediate-data-and-state Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Practice & Strategy | Advanced Domain And Bounded Contexts soft-arch-advanced-domain-and-bounded-contexts Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Practice & Strategy | Advanced Patterns And Distribution soft-arch-advanced-patterns-and-distribution Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Practice & Strategy | Advanced Resilience Performance soft-arch-advanced-resilience-performance Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Resilience and failure assumptions | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Practice & Strategy | Advanced Evolution And Governance soft-arch-advanced-evolution-and-governance Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Architecture judgement and decision quality | - | - | Practice assessment | Template + rubric |
| Summary | Summary You Made It soft-arch-summary-you-made-it Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Consolidate what you built and what changed in your assumptions. | evidence | Other: Reflection and consolidation | Formative checkpoints | Template + rubric |
| Summary | Summary Big Picture soft-arch-summary-big-picture Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Reconnect the big picture: constraints, trade-offs, boundaries, and change cost. | tradeoffs, boundaries | Other: Big picture reasoning | Formative checkpoints | Template + rubric |
| Summary | Summary Games Labs soft-arch-summary-games-labs Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Practise patterns and trade-offs with small drills and labs that surface misconceptions. | practice | Other: Practice and calibration | Formative checkpoints | Template + rubric |
| Summary | Summary Next Steps soft-arch-summary-next-steps Anchors: TOGAF Standard, ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 (architecture description) | Create a next-steps plan: one decision record, one guardrail, one operational improvement. | planning, governance | Other: Next steps | Formative checkpoints | Template + rubric |
📚References and further reading
These notes draw on a wide range of sources. A few starting points are listed here so that you can explore the official material in more depth.
- Architecture handbooks and open course materials from recognised universities and industry leaders
- Documentation and guidance on cloud architecture, reliability, and security from major vendors
- Standards and playbooks on software design, observability, and operational excellence
🏗️Capstones
BookTrack capstone journey
A full journey that connects architecture, cybersecurity, digitalisation and AI using the BookTrack example.
GridLens capstone journey
A full journey that connects architecture, CIM based network data, cybersecurity, digitalisation and AI using GridLens.
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