Nino ChavezSearch site
Learning path8–12 weeks5 stages

Guided path

Architect

Design systems someone else can build

Capture structure, constraints, and decisions in architecture documentation that remains useful while the system changes.

Start when
You need documentation another person can build from without asking you to reconstruct the system.
What you’ll make
Complete system architecture using the arc42 template
3 examples

See the work behind the path

Each example shows work, a session, or writing that shaped this path. Use it to decide whether the instruction fits your work.

WorkBlueprintA repository-native method with durable decisions and explicit gates.TechniqueTwo Ways to Draw a SystemChoose diagram form by audience and rate of change.WritingWho Reviewed the Reviewer?A test of review systems against the human intent they are meant to preserve.
Fit check

Know whether this is your path

Use this path if

  • You design systems that other people need to understand or extend.
  • Important decisions are disappearing into meetings, chats, or code.
  • You need system views, decision records, and one coherent reference.

Choose another path if

  • You only need a sales diagram.
  • You want documentation generated without inspecting the system.
  • No one will own the reference after it is written.
Working concept

The voice shift

Architecture reference is definitive about the current system and explicit about uncertainty. It records decisions and constraints; it does not perform confidence it has not earned.

Path / 00–04

Five stages to the finished work

Each stage has a practical stopping condition. Move on when the checkpoint is true, not when the time estimate expires.

  1. 00

    Learn the templates

    1–2 days
    Goal

    Understand where C4 system views, the arc42 documentation template, and decision records each fit.

    Done when

    You can explain the four C4 system-view levels and when a decision needs its own record.

  2. 01

    Document an existing system

    1–2 weeks
    Goal

    Recover the system that already exists.

    Done when

    You have a context view, container view, and three grounded decision records.

  3. 02

    Capture decisions as they happen

    2–3 weeks
    Goal

    Make architectural choices reviewable while they are still changing.

    Done when

    Five active decisions record context, choice, and consequence.

  4. 03

    Complete the architecture

    3–4 weeks
    Goal

    Connect views, constraints, risks, and operations in one reference.

    Done when

    Another practitioner can use the document to plan a build or change.

  5. 04

    Document cross-system integration

    4+ weeks
    Goal

    Make boundaries and failure modes visible across systems.

    Done when

    The reference names ownership, contracts, and failure behavior at every boundary.