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A compact library of what we have written, presented and recorded about arc42 and software architecture. Browse the whole collection, or filter it to your favorite format.
48 resources across all types
Diät für Architekturdokumentation: Ein Ernährungsplan
Architecture documentation has a weight problem: too many pages, too little substance. How arc42 trims docs to the essentials, from 17-page minimal write-ups to 4000-person-day projects, plus the arc42 canvas and a look at agentic workflows.
Cognitive Biases im Software Engineering
Why good architects make bad decisions: how confirmation bias, optimism bias and the sunk-cost fallacy quietly steer technology choices, estimates and migrations, and practical countermeasures like pre-mortems and structured decision formats.
Code wird billig, Architektur entscheidend
When GenAI turns code into cheap mass-produced goods, thinking in the whole-system context becomes the most valuable currency. A call to the profession: decoupling, transparent trade-offs and holistic design are the skills AI cannot take from us.
Wie Dev-Teams zu besseren Anforderungen kommen
Garbage in, garbage out applies to software too. Good requirements work is part of architecture, not something to outsource. From vision to measurable requirements along a real Hyrox example, framed by the Twin Peaks model of requirements and architecture.
arc42 in Aktion
The missing manual for arc42: pragmatic, hands-on advice for useful, economical and maintainable architecture documentation, by Gernot Starke and Peter Hruschka.
Technical and other Debt in IT Systems
Technical debt is only part of the story: this piece widens the lens to requirements, architecture, infrastructure, security, testing and operations.
Canvas 101
A free INNOQ primer presenting seven practical one-pagers (canvases) for IT projects, from business models to architecture and team collaboration.
Business Model Canvas: Geschäftsmodelle sichtbar machen
How the Business Model Canvas puts a whole business model on one page, and why that view matters for architecture and strategy work.
Basiswissen Softwarearchitektur, 6. Auflage
Foundation-level software architecture knowledge, revised for the 2025 iSAQB CPSA Foundation curriculum, now with dedicated chapters on requirements and on data.
arc42 by Example, Anniversary Edition
Nine real IT systems from different domains, documented with arc42 and collected for its twentieth birthday.
20 Years arc42
Peter Hruschka and Gernot Starke look back at the template, its history and the ecosystem that grew around it.
Patterns kompakt, 6. Auflage
The compact catalogue of essential design patterns for developers and architects, grouped by concern, by Karl Eilebrecht and Gernot Starke.
Fundamentals of Software Architecture
A five-part blog series on the INNOQ website: what software architecture is, the terms behind it, how it is done, who does it, and where it is heading.
Effektive Softwarearchitekturen, 10. Auflage
The standard German handbook for practising software architects, revised for the current iSAQB curriculum and now covering C4, cloud and data contracts.
Software Architecture Foundation, 2nd edition
A detailed study guide for every learning goal in the iSAQB CPSA Foundation curriculum, including sample examination questions.
Pixie und der Sumpf
A hands-on walk through bare-metal provisioning: firmware, DHCP and PXE network booting to install an operating system from scratch.
Babylon as a Feature
A docs-as-code approach to multilingual documentation: AsciiDoc, Git and build scripts that generate per-language PDF and HTML from shared sources.
arc42 by Example, 3rd edition
Complete real-world architectures, from their problem domains and quality goals to building blocks, runtime scenarios and crosscutting concepts.
How I regained concentration and focus
A personal account of cutting out news and reconfiguring phone and desktop to silence distractions and win back deep, sustained focus.
Principles of technical documentation
More than 30 practical principles for documentation that stays correct, current, understandable, relevant and maintainable.
Eine kleine Geschichte über Qualität
A short parable that shows why software quality requirements must be understood precisely before anyone can build the right solution.
Documenting Software Architecture with arc42 — A Brief Introduction
A concise tour of arc42: the pragmatic, tool-agnostic template of twelve sections for documenting software architecture.
What's in a Name?
A series of short essays pinning down the words architects overload every day: architecture, quality, evaluation, transparency and consistency.
The Software Architecture Foundation Curriculum
What changed in the iSAQB Foundation curriculum and how it supports systematic, practical architecture education.
Quality-Driven Software Architecture
A methodical approach to constructing systems that are reliable, performant, scalable, usable and cost-effective.
Im Stich gelassen
Daniel Lauxtermann and Gernot Starke explain why software teams should actively work toward better requirements.
Handeln statt jammern
How development teams can respond constructively when important requirements arrive too late or remain implicit.
The Art of Software Reviews
A systematic route from review goals and scope to code, architecture, operations, tests and concrete improvements.
arc42 by Example, Volume 2
Two complete architecture examples from embedded systems and IoT, including hardware and software co-design.
Software Reviews
Practical ways to uncover problems in software and derive targeted improvements from many years of review experience.
Requirements-Skills erfolgreicher Softwareteams
Pragmatic methods that help development teams improve incomplete or unclear requirements, also used in the iSAQB Req4Arc module.
How to explain your architecture using arc42
A guided introduction to the template and how to communicate architecture to developers, management and other stakeholders.
Zertifizierung für Softwarearchitekten, 3. Auflage
A compact introduction to the iSAQB CPSA Foundation curriculum, examination topics and certification process.
The Rise, the Ruin and the Rescue
Strategic and tactical approaches for escaping legacy hell and reducing technical debt in a large ecommerce system.
Business Analysis und Requirements Engineering
Peter Hruschka explains how product owners, business analysts and requirements engineers can improve products and processes sustainably.
arc42-Primer
A compact introduction that dispels documentation myths and shows how to create maintainable architecture documentation under time pressure.
arc42 by Example, Packt edition
The real-world architecture examples from Leanpub in a print and ebook edition published by Packt.
arc42 by Example, 2nd edition
Real system documentation updated to arc42 version 7, including Ralf D. Müller's docToolchain example.
IT-Knigge, 3. Auflage
A critical and practical collection about bimodal IT, Industry 4.0 and improving software quality.
Hände waschen, Zähne putzen: Vergessene Grundlagen
Gernot Starke revisits software engineering basics such as modularity, complexity, KISS and coupling.
Hitchhiker's Guide to Architecture Documentation
Gernot Starke and Ralf D. Müller discuss common diagram failures and what to do instead.
Architekten: Zehnkämpfer der IT
Why software architects need more than technology expertise to connect stakeholders and make responsible decisions.
Diagramm des Grauens
Gernot Starke shows how architecture diagrams fail and what makes them genuinely useful.
Explain your architecture with arc42
How the arc42 template helps explain a software architecture clearly to different stakeholder groups.
Kontextabgrenzung
A concise introduction to the system context, one of the most important views in software architecture.
Qualität: ein problematischer Begriff
Why quality requirements need to be more specific and concrete than everyday definitions suggest.
Sparsame Dokumentation mit arc42
A practical look at the minimum useful architecture documentation, explained through examples.
SWA-kompakt #5: Die Mikroskop-Falle
The microscope trap: why zooming into technical detail too early can obscure the architectural big picture.
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