The C4 Model

Chapter 11. Beyond the Basics

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This chapter will look at some of the more advanced topics associated with the C4 model, ranging from the abstractions and diagram types to some specific recommendations for diagramming microservices and message-driven architectures. Let’s start our tour with a more detailed look at the four levels of the C4 model and why they exist.

The Model-Code Gap

Chapters 3 – 6 introduced the static structure diagram types that make up the C4 model, and each of those chapters included some guidance on whether I’d recommend usage of that particular diagram type. My general guidance to teams who are adopting the C4 model for the first time is to focus on the top two levels—the system context and container diagrams.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, the system context and container diagrams can be created reasonably quickly in most cases. Related to this is the effort required to keep those diagrams up-to-date. Due to the hierarchical nature of the C4 model, each diagram will change at a different rate:

1. System context ...