A practitioner's guide to software architecture fundamentals — structured around the iSAQB CPSA-F curriculum, extended with real-world depth for everyday use.
Two layers of content: Each page has Core sections covering the CPSA-F syllabus (great for exam revision), and Advanced sections going deeper into real-world practice.
Domains
Domain 1 · ~20%
Basic Concepts
What is software architecture? The architect's role, stakeholders, lifecycle, and relationship to other disciplines.
Domain 2 · ~35%
Design & Development
Design approaches, architecture patterns, design principles, cross-cutting concerns — split across 4 pages.
Domain 3 · ~20%
Specification & Communication
Architecture views, arc42 template, ADRs, UML and alternative notations for documenting architecture.
Domain 4 · ~20%
Architecture & Quality
ISO 25010, quality scenarios, trade-offs, ATAM evaluation, and metrics.
Domain 5 · ~5%
Examples & Case Studies
Reference architectures, real-world case studies, architectural styles vs patterns.
All Pages
| # | Page | Domain | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Basic Concepts | 1 | Definitions, roles, stakeholders, lifecycle, related disciplines |
| 02 | Design Approaches | 2 | Top-down/bottom-up, DDD, decomposition, Conway's Law |
| 03 | Architecture Patterns | 2 | Layered, Pipes & Filters, Microservices, MVC, Hexagonal, CQRS, Event-Driven |
| 04 | Design Principles | 2 | SOLID, coupling/cohesion, DIP, DRY, KISS, YAGNI |
| 05 | Cross-Cutting Concerns | 2 | Interfaces, logging, security, communication, technical debt |
| 06 | Architecture Views | 3 | 4+1 model, context/building-block/runtime/deployment views |
| 07 | Documentation | 3 | arc42, ADRs, UML, C4, notation choices |
| 08 | Quality | 4 | ISO 25010, quality scenarios, ATAM, trade-offs, metrics |
| 09 | Examples & Case Studies | 5 | Reference architectures, styles vs patterns, real-world cases |
| 10 | Reference & Glossary | — | Glossary, quick-reference, misconceptions, resources |
How to Use This Reference
For CPSA-F exam prep: Focus on sections without the purple 🔷 Advanced badge. Look for Core content and 📝 exam hints throughout.
For daily reference: Read everything including 🔷 Advanced sections. They cover cloud-native, distributed systems, API design, resilience patterns, and more.