Application Architecture Diagram: A Complete Tutorial

What is application architecture.

The application architecture is a mechanism through which the applications are developed in a particular form. The software developers use different architecture plans to develop a solution of the problem and different applications require different ways to develop.

Application

These ways are called the design patterns . Architecture of an application is developed on a particular design pattern.

These design patterns have made the software developers life easy as they provide a repeatable solution for the real world and industrial problems. Developing a solution on your own designed architecture brings you a lot of problems, your application can be buggy or may crash in the production environment causing you financial, time, and reputation loss.

What is an Application Architecture Diagram?

The application architecture diagram is a well-known and highly useful figure in both the software engineering and cloud-native applications world. The application architecture is a pictorial representation of the application showing the whole application and its components like frontend, backend, databases, cloud, microservices, sub-applications, etc.

Application Architecture

Click here to see the HD version of the template.

1. Download application architecture diagram template by clicking here for free.

2. Use EdrawMax Architecture Diagram Software to open and use this template . Download from the button below.

Components of the Application Architecture Diagram

For making an application architecture diagram, you have to gather all the stakeholders’ information that will be merged to make an application. Some of the useful components of the application architecture diagrams are.

Component Layers

Each component like microservices, databases, etc. are made into layers. Each stakeholder has its own layer. For example, the data layer is for the data engineers. In this way, the developers get the idea of which layer they have to work for and to whom they have to plan or discuss.

Further Information

Further information of each component is also an important part. You have to provide additional information about every part of the application. For example, if the application also contains the containers, how does this information work, etc. It will make the discussions deeper and informative to work with.

Application details

The name of the types of sub-applications is also a part of the diagram.

Application architecture

Image Source: www.scnsoft.com

Benefits of Using Application Architecture Diagrams

Some of the main benefits of the application architecture diagrams are:

Solid Foundations

The application architecture diagram is a solid foundation of the application. The developers use this application to upgrade the version of the application, fix the issues, develop the patches, etc.

Code Maintenance

When you develop an application using a particular design pattern or application architecture then it makes it easy for the developers for the code maintenance, reviewing, finding bugs, developing patches, etc.

As the application is developed on a particular architecture that is well-known in the software houses it makes it handy for the developers to maintain it easily.

Everyone Knows Their Part

As described above, each component and their developers are divided into the layers. So, everyone knows what is their part and they are responsible for their acts.

The diagrams make everyone understand the application and their role and act as a blueprint for extending and upgrading the application.

Architecture Diagram Software>>

Application architecture diagram examples.

The concepts we have read above will be made more clear when we will see the practical examples of the application architecture diagram.

Example 1: Web Application Architecture Diagram

The web application diagrams are the high-level representation of the website frontend and the backend. These web architecture diagrams are usually not very large as shown above because the components are very less that are used in the web applications.

Web Application Architecture Diagram

1. Download web application architecture template by clicking here for free.

The web architecture and microservice architecture diagram provides useful and handy information about how the website is developed and how it works under the hood.

From the illustration, the main component of the web application is the server, from where the backend starts and ends at the database. The server is programmed to retrieve the information from the cache server that is also getting the information or data from the database.

The client side of the web i.e. user interface, mobile applications are showing the information that they are getting from the backend server.

Example 2: CRM Application Architecture Diagram

Before understanding the CRM solution architecture diagram you need to understand what the CRM solution is. The CRM solution or application is a tool that is extensively used by the people in marketing, sales, and service management regions.

They used this solution to manage the customers, colleagues, stakeholders, suppliers, etc. The tool made the people to concrete their relations with their customers. This tool can be hosted on the web, so its web architecture is also made.

The CRM solution also has an application architecture diagram that is made before its development in the planning phases.

CRM Application Architecture Diagram

1. Download CRM application architecture diagram template by clicking here for free.

The diagram contains all the components that are used to make the CRM solution. It helps the software developers to maintain the solution and upgrade it with time according to the customer needs.

The diagram pinned above has different components. The main component is CRM, the database that contains all the important data and helps the AI engineers to predict the future possibilities.

The data is getting in and out through the electronic channel management from the database. Mainly, the data is getting from the different suites and each suite is producing the relevant data.

How to Create an Application Architecture Diagram?

If you want to create an application architecture diagram, a useful tool can help you much, see how EdrawMax helps to make it happen in a swift!

EdrawMax Architecture Diagram Tool

Offer pre-made templates to make architecture diagram such as system, software, AWS, application, data, azure or other diagrams effortlessly.

Step 1 : Launch the EdrawMax on the desktop or open EdrawMax Online on the browser. Navigate to [ Software & Database ] > [ Softeware Development ] > [ Enterprise Application ].

Open EdrawMax

Click [ Templates ] on the File menu and you will find a great number of architecture diagram templates that are created by Edraw and our users. Choose the one, then you can edit and customize it with ease.

template community

Step 2 : Click on the icon of [ Libraries ] on the left of the screen, and you will see the menu that contains all the preset symbol libraries. Add symbols you need on the left panel and you can drag and drop these symbols on the canvas.

Open symbol libraries

Step 3 : Keep making, editing and formatting your architecture diagram until it fits your requirements. EdrawMax provides plenty of editing and styling tools for user to make any kind of diagram.

Edit Template

Step 4 : When you finish the diagram, you can save it in commonly-used file types such as Visio, Excel, PDF, Graphics, PowerPoint, and Word.

Save and Export the File

What's more, EdrawMax also supports users to import the Visio files and convert your Visio architecture diagrams in seconds.

Import Visio files

Why EdrawMax to Draw Your Diagrams?

For this highly professional and important task, always motivate yourself to use the EdrawMax software due to the following reasons.

Specifically made for

The EdrawMax is highly expert recommended software that is specifically made for the diagram making purposes. Without any doubt, you can easily make the application architectural diagrams on this platform.

Massive Templates

EdrawMax contains the pre-generated templates relevant to each field of diagram in a very huge number. These templates are made to boost your production and avoid working from the scratch.

Industrial-Standard Symbols

According to the developers, the EdrawMax contains more than five thousands diagram symbols that are industrial standard and globally accepted. You can easily add those symbols by just drag and drop.

Platform Independent

The best part of the EdrawMax is that it is operating system independent, meaning it can work in Windows, Mac, and on Linux computers. THe software can also be run on the web browser making it very efficient in the market.

EdrawMax

Software architecture diagramming and patterns

Software architecture diagramming and patterns

What is the Application architecture example template?

Software architecture diagrams are essential for visualizing and organizing the often-complex infrastructure that exists within your cloud architecture. This template contains a detailed example of an Application architecture diagram that you can customize to your specific use case and share with stakeholders.

Benefits of using the Application architecture example template

How to use the application architecture example template in lucidchart.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to customizing your architecture diagram:

  • Add text to a shape by selecting it and typing your information.
  • Add and remove shapes onto the canvas by dragging and dropping them from our Shape Library. To format them, click on a shape and then click “Shape Options,” “Fill Color,” and “Line Color” on the Properties Bar at the top of the canvas.
  • Hover over a shape and click on any red circle to add lines. Drag them to a red circle on another shape to form connections.
  • To create current and future states, create a layer by clicking on “Layers” to the right.

To read more about system architecture diagrams and explore resources to help, click on the buttons to the right of your document.

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Architectural diagramming: A complete guide

what is architectural diagramming

Table of contents

Architectural diagramming is a pivotal aspect of software development, providing a visual representation of software system components, their functions, and interactions. This process ensures a clear understanding of the system’s structure, aiding in efficient communication, planning, and execution. Today, we will delve into the world of architectural diagrams, exploring their types, purposes, and significance in software development.

What is architectural diagramming?

Architectural diagramming is the process of creating visual representations of software system components. It plays a crucial role in showcasing the various functions of a software system, their implementations, and how they interact with each other. By providing a bird’s-eye view of the system, architectural diagrams facilitate better decision-making and enhance the clarity of complex software structures.

example application diagram

Types of architectural diagrams

1. software architecture diagram.

Consider the following key points that highlight their purpose and practical applications:

Purpose: Visually represent software components, their relationships, and system interactions.

Use Cases: Ideal for understanding the overall software design, identifying potential bottlenecks, and ensuring efficient communication among development teams.

2. System architecture diagram

The following elements are essential on system architecture diagrams:

Purpose: Provide a visual illustration of a system's various components and their interactions.

Use Cases: Suitable for showcasing the high-level structure of the entire system and how different components are interconnected.

3. Application architecture diagram

The application architecture diagram serves specific functions in software development, as outlined in the points below, which clarify its purpose and utility:

Purpose: Illustrate application structure, including components, their interactions, and data flow.

Use Cases: Perfect for developers and stakeholders to grasp the internal workings of an application.

Google Cloud Architecture Diagram template is one example of an application diagram.

example application diagram

4. Integration architecture diagram

Integration architecture diagrams focus on the following purpose:

Purpose: Visually represent components, data, and technology involved in integration solutions.

Use Cases: Essential for organizations implementing complex integration solutions across different systems and platforms.

5. Deployment architecture diagram

Deployment architecture diagrams play a critical role in software delivery. The bullet points below shed light on their objective and the contexts in which they are crucial:

Purpose: Visually represent relationships between different application components and their deployment environments.

Use Cases: Crucial for DevOps teams and system administrators to plan and optimize deployment strategies.

Promote clear, streamlined communication and help development teams follow a structured approach to deployment with the SDLC template .

example application diagram

6. DevOps architecture diagram

The DevOps architecture diagram is a visual toolkit essential for modern software development practices.

Purpose: Visualize the components of a DevOps system and their interactions.

Use Cases: Helps in understanding the DevOps pipeline, from code integration to deployment.

Use the DevOps roadmap template to put this diagram into practice.

7. Website architecture diagram

For a clear understanding of website architecture diagrams, the points below detail their intent and the situations where they are particularly useful:

Purpose: Visually represent website structures, showcasing the hierarchy and navigation.

Use Cases: Ideal for web developers and designers aiming to create user-friendly and well-structured websites.

The sitemap template can help you visualize the main areas of your website and the user flow template will streamline users interaction with your website.

How to draw an architectural diagram

Drawing an architectural diagram involves a series of steps that require both technical understanding and design skills. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you create an effective architectural diagram:

example application diagram

Step 1: Define the purpose

Before you begin, determine what you want to communicate with your architectural diagram. Is it to illustrate system components, data flow , or deployment strategies? The purpose will guide the type of diagram you'll create.

Step 2: Identify the components

List out all the components that will be part of the system. This includes hardware, software, databases , networks, and any other relevant elements.

Step 3: Establish relationships

Determine how these components interact with each other. Understand the dependencies and how data flows between them.

Step 4: Choose the right diagram type

Based on the purpose and the components, select the most appropriate type of diagram. For instance, use a deployment diagram to show the physical layout of hardware and software, or a component diagram to illustrate the organization of software components.

example application diagram

Step 5: Select a tool

Choose a diagramming tool that suits your needs. There are many tools available, you can try Miro's software architecture tools and templates to get started fast.

Step 6: Draft the diagram

Start by placing the primary components on the canvas. Then, draw connections between them to represent interactions and relationships. Use consistent symbols and notations that are standard for the type of diagram you're creating.

Step 7: Add details

Once the basic structure is in place, add necessary details such as interface information, protocols, and any other specifications that are relevant to the diagram.

Step 8: Validate the diagram

Review the diagram to ensure it accurately represents the system architecture. It's helpful to have someone else check it for accuracy and clarity.

Step 9: Iterate and refine

Based on feedback, make adjustments to the diagram. This may involve repositioning components, clarifying relationships, or adding and removing elements for better comprehension.

Step 10: Finalize and share

Once the diagram is complete and validated, finalize it by adding titles, legends, and any other explanatory text. Share the diagram with stakeholders and include it in your documentation. In Miro, you can export your diagram as an image or PDF, or even share the link of the board and start collaborating with your team in real time.

By following these steps, you can create a clear and informative architectural diagram that will serve as a valuable tool for understanding and communicating the architecture of a software system.

Architectural diagrams are indispensable tools in software development, providing clarity, facilitating communication, and aiding in the strategic planning of software systems. By understanding the different types of architectural diagrams and their specific use cases, developers and stakeholders can make informed decisions, leading to more efficient and successful software projects.

Leverage the power of architectural diagramming to take your software development process to the next level. Explore, visualize, and communicate complex software structures with ease and precision.

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What is Architecture Diagramming?

What is architecture diagramming?

Architecture diagramming is the process of creating visual representations of software system components. In a software system, the term architecture refers to various functions, their implementations, and their interactions with each other.  As software is inherently abstract, architecture diagrams visually illustrate the various data movements within the system. They also highlight how the software interacts with the environment around it.

example application diagram

What are the benefits of architecture diagramming?

Architecture diagrams provide several benefits, such as collaboration, risk reduction, efficiency, and scalability.

Collaboration

Architecture diagrams significantly boost collaboration between developers and designers and create a unified view of system functionality and potential issues. A shared understanding of a system, application, or website has several benefits. It supports communication during the design process, helps teams develop effective system software components, and ensures a project meets its goals. 

Risk reduction

Architecture diagrams identify potential system development risks, such as incorrect assumptions, faulty logic, or inadequate testing. By identifying and addressing risks early in the software development lifecycle, development teams can make changes earlier and reduce the risk that significant issues appear later.

Read about the software development lifecycle »

Architecture diagrams provide a clear view of system components and structure. So, stakeholders can identify problems accurately and resolve them quickly. Diagrams also make it easier to maintain and scale systems, so ongoing changes are more efficient. 

Scalability

Architecture diagrams allow stakeholders to identify efficient ways to scale a system.  For example, a diagram may show if a system's architecture is centralized or distributed. Since distributed components scale more efficiently, monolithic components can be updated or replaced in time. Similarly, graphical representations provide insight into how data is stored and moved. Stakeholders can identify potential bottlenecks and ways to avoid them. 

What software architecture patterns can you represent with architecture diagramming?

Software architecture patterns are design principles and best practices used to develop software systems. They provide a framework to structure the software and address specific challenges in complex software architectures.

Here are some of the most commonly used software architecture patterns.

Client-server architecture

Client-server architecture is a distributed application structure that separates tasks and workloads between servers and clients. Servers provide the resource or service, and clients request it.

The client and server are separate programs that communicate over a network. A web browser and web server are an example of client-server architecture. It’s a commonly used architecture in distributed computing. 

Read about distributed computing »

Service-oriented architecture

Service-oriented architecture allow for interaction between distributed application components through services. Services are abstract, loosely coupled, and language-independent. Applications access them through interfaces. Developers can reuse existing services rather than having to rebuild from scratch. Service-oriented architecture is widely used in distributed systems, as services can be deployed across multiple servers.

Read about service-oriented architecture »

Microservices architecture

Service-oriented architecture has evolved further, so developers use microservices architecture to build, deploy, and manage individual services. Applications are split into independently deployable services that communicate through APIs.

Smaller, independent services make it simpler for developers to develop, test, and deploy applications and deliver improved fault tolerances and rapid scaling. An example of a microservices architecture is a web application consisting of several independent services, each responsible for specific tasks. 

Read about microservices »

Read about APIs »

Read about web applications »

Cloud-centered architecture

Cloud-centered architecture is used to design and build applications for cloud environments. Cloud-centered architecture is built and delivered with cloud-specific technologies such as containers, microservices, DevOps, and serverless computing. It prioritizes automated deployment and management so that applications can be scaled up and down as needed.

Read about containerization »

Read about DevOps »

Read about serverless architectures »

Event-driven architecture

Event-driven architecture is software architecture based on the production, detection, and consumption of events. User interactions, background tasks, and other sources trigger events that further trigger other functionality. The event-driven architecture allows applications to be more responsive to changes in a software system and its environment.

Layered architecture

Layered architecture is a software architecture pattern that separates applications into logic-based layers. This type of architecture is designed to simplify complex applications and systems, as you can split tasks between layers.

Layers are organized from top to bottom:

  • A presentation layer (for example, a UI) is at the top
  • A business layer is in the middle
  • A data layer is at the bottom

Layers can also be structured hierarchically, which aids maintenance and scalability.

example application diagram

What types of information are included in an architecture diagram?

Here are some common types of information found in an architecture diagram:

  • Squares and circles represent components such as databases, networks, applications, and services
  • Lines and arrows show the connections and interactions between the system's components
  • Labels provide additional information about the components and connections

Additionally, the diagram may also use icons or symbols to visually represent the different components. A small legend at the bottom, similar to the legend on a map, explains icon usage. The way in which the components and connections are arranged is called a layout .

Read about databases »

Read about computer networking »

What are the types of architectural diagrams?

Several types of architectural diagrams visually represent various systems and software architectures. Here are some of the most common architecture diagram examples.

Software architecture diagram

Software architecture diagrams visually represent software components, relationships, and system interactions. They document, analyze, and communicate software design and are used to make decisions on implementation. These diagrams range from straightforward, high-level diagrams to detailed depictions of software component interactions. 

System architecture diagram

System architecture diagrams provide a visual illustration of a system's various components and show how they communicate and interact with each other. These diagrams document a system's structure and architecture. This allows for a clear understanding of how the system works and how it can be improved.

Application architecture diagram

Application architecture diagrams illustrate application structure. They include components and how they interact with each other as well as the data flow between them. Application architecture diagrams provide a complete view of an application and are used to inform the application's design, implementation, and maintenance.

example application diagram

Integration architecture diagram

Integration architecture diagrams visually represent components, data, and technology involved in integration solutions. They show the relationships between different components, systems, and services and are used to help design, develop, and manage complex integration solutions. These diagrams are used to document and explain existing systems as well as plan and develop new integration solutions.

Deployment architecture diagram

Deployment architecture diagrams visually represent relationships between different application components and their deployment environments. Deployment architecture diagrams show the layout of an application and its components—including, for example, servers, storage, and networks. They’re used to plan capacity, scalability, and fault tolerance.

DevOps architecture diagram

DevOps architecture diagrams visualize the components of a DevOps system and how they interact. They commonly include components such as development environments, continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines, infrastructure as code, and cloud services. The diagrams illustrate the components' interactions and places in the wider DevOps environment.

Read about infrastructure as a service »

Website architecture diagram

Website architecture diagrams visually represent website structures. The diagrams visually map the relationships and interactions between website components, such as webpages, databases, and content management systems. Web designers with access to website architecture diagrams can identify potential problem areas and develop effective strategies to improve the website's performance.

How can AWS support your architecture diagramming requirements?

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we offer Workload Discovery on AWS as a tool to visualize AWS Cloud workloads. You can use it to build, customize, and share detailed architecture diagrams of your workloads based on live data from AWS. Workload Discovery on AWS removes significant documentation process overheads by providing both the data and the visualization tooling in one place.

Here are ways you can benefit from Workload Discovery on AWS:

  • Build, customize, and share detailed architecture diagrams
  • Save and export architecture diagrams
  • Query AWS cost and usage reports
  • Search and locate basic information, such as resource names, tag names, or IP addresses
  • Explore account resources and AWS Regions by using the resource directory

Get started with architecture diagramming on AWS by creating a free AWS account today.

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example application diagram

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Architectural diagrams: what to know, and how to draw one

Georgina Guthrie

Georgina Guthrie

February 15, 2022

Sometimes, it’s helpful to get a big-picture view of something for context — and architectural diagrams do just that. In a nutshell, they show how elements within a system interact with each other in a wider process.

There are many different types of architectural diagrams, all of which vary depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. They’re used in construction, engineering, security, IT, sales — basically any process that involves stages and stakeholders .

For this walkthrough, we’ll focus on software architectural diagrams . They break structures down into layers that show how specific systems interact with users and other systems.

Design diagram vs. architecture diagram

Many people confuse the two, but they’re completely different things. An architecture diagram describes what you’re building, how stakeholders interact with it, and where constraints lie. A design diagram explains how to build it.

To use an example: let’s say you’re building a football stadium. An architecture diagram will tell you what the architect wants, plus details about the investors, the building contractors, and local laws. It may include a summary of the building, plumbing, and electrics. However, its main goal is to show you how to meet all these groups’ needs . Some parts show the concept from everyone’s point of view; others address individual needs. A design diagram, on the other hand, simply goes into detail about how to build the stadium, stage by stage.

Two ways architectural diagrams can help you

1. they help with comprehension.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. Similarly, architectural diagrams help convey complex information in a single image.

  • Architectural diagrams show systems. Displaying information visually allows the viewer to see everything at a glance, including how elements interact. This is especially useful when making changes. You’ll be able to see the downstream effects of a given change more clearly.
  • Architectural diagrams also break down complex systems and processes into layers. So, rather than trying to comprehend everything at once, you can zoom in and focus on smaller sub-processes or systems.

2. They improve communication and collaboration

One of the main issues software engineers face is consistency. When you’re working on anything that involves multiple people, there’s always a risk of miscommunication and discrepancies between project teams and developers. It’s crucial to standardize information, which is where an architectural diagram becomes helpful.

Bear in mind that architectural diagrams can be inconsistent too — which is why they must be standardized, accurate, and detailed. Diagrams communicate the application’s elements, relationships, and properties over time to a range of different stakeholders, so they need to follow a clear system.

Types of software architecture diagrams

Not all architecture diagrams are the same, and you can use them to model different aspects of a system. Let’s look at the most common types of software architecture diagrams.

Application Architecture Diagram

An application architecture diagram shows the structural layout of a software system and how it interacts with other systems. This type of diagram provides a high-level overview of how the components make up the system. It’s common to group application diagrams into layers that detail how the system works at different levels.

Data Architecture Diagram

Think of all the personal information you submit through websites and software every day. Contact information. Identification numbers. Banking details. Organizations are increasingly responsible for handling large amounts of internal and external data.

A data architecture diagram provides a breakdown of how data flows through a system and where it’s stored at different points. This type of diagram is useful for finding ways to improve data processing. and when you’re ready to scale up a system, it’ll help you maintain efficiency.

Integration Architecture Diagram

An integration architecture diagram shows how the internal components work together and how they’ll work with external systems. This type of diagram is useful for designing software that will integrate with other programs.

How to draw an architectural diagram

Architectural diagrams should be self-explanatory. If they’re not, then they’re failing. To make sure yours is easy to understand, keep variable elements consistent, and explain everything in the legend, key, or glossary. Here are some rules to help you.

1. Document your shapes

The meanings of shapes vary from diagram to diagram, so to avoid confusion or misinterpretation, be sure to document the ones you’re using — even if it’s just a simple box. And be consistent throughout.

2. Label the edges

The same goes for edges. Whether you use a dotted, dashed, or straight edge, make sure you properly label it in the diagram legend when using multiple border types.

3. Keep your arrows consistent

Arrows denote data flows and dependencies, but that same line could represent different things within those two categories. For example, a line could depict a relationship, but that relationship could represent a dependency or an implementation. Minimize the risk of ambiguity by adding relevant information to all arrows.

4. Use colors sparingly

When it comes to colors, less is more. You should only really use them to emphasize certain parts of the diagram. If you add color — like shapes, borders, and arrows — every choice needs to follow the same logic and be consistent and properly labeled. Otherwise, people will ask why certain things are the way they are, which negates the point (and effectiveness) of the diagram.

5. Use multiple diagrams, if necessary

When you have multiple stakeholders , you may need to include a large amount of data. If this is the case, create several diagrams for the different viewpoints rather than creating an unintelligible spaghetti beast. And whether you have one diagram or ten, remember to keep everything (boxes, shapes, borders, and colors) uniform throughout.

6. Merge incomplete diagrams

If two diagrams both represent one process or system but they’re incomplete, consider merging them.

7. Include legends/keys/glossaries

A legend helps everyone understand your diagram. Remember, just because your team knows a certain acronym, it doesn’t mean a stakeholder will.

8. Use diagramming software

Using a dedicated cloud-based diagramming tool allows you to track changes in real-time and revert to previous versions if necessary (without the need for manually tracking versions on the server). This helps with traceability, minimizes the risk of someone working on the wrong document, and cuts down on admin.

Things to watch out for

  • Missing elements, broken relationships, or isolated entities: these inconsistencies could point to a wrong or incomplete diagram.
  • Unexplained acronyms: always write the expanded acronym first, and then use the abbreviation. It’s also a good idea to put all acronyms in a glossary for reference.
  • Vague or generic terms: avoid anything that could be interpreted in different ways.
  • Unexplained technologies, frameworks, or scripting languages: these shouldn’t feature in the diagram, but you should include a rationale as to why you’ve chosen certain things.
  • Assumptions: avoid alluding to further explanations or diagrams, such as, “I will explain this later.” Over time, your diagram will pass through various groups and stakeholders, and they may not have access to this additional information. Make it self-contained.
  • Too much information — or too little: a good architectural diagram isn’t cluttered. Yet, it should include all relevant information with the diagram itself. To strike this fine balance, revise and improve upon your first draft. Remember, it’s all in the edit.

Final thoughts

Many software projects lack proper documentation because people see it as time-consuming or confusing. But not having the right diagram for the job is like trying to drive somewhere without planning your route. The time you spend getting lost and backtracking dwarfs any upfront time you would have spent mapping the journey .

It’s the same with architecture diagrams. Setting out this information helps you and your stakeholders navigate the project, bringing clarity across the board. Use cloud-based diagramming software to create a diagram everyone can access, making it easy to maintain consistency and track changes in real-time. This means you won’t have to send out version updates or worry about people working on or viewing an outdated diagram. Everyone is on the same page.

Cacoo’s software allows you to insert and edit your infrastructure directly in the cloud-based diagramming tool. Try it today!

This post was originally published on October 9, 2019, and updated most recently on February 15, 2022.

Migrating Cacoo to microservices

Migrating Cacoo to microservices

A simple guide to drawing your first state diagram (with examples)

A simple guide to drawing your first state diagram (with examples)

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The Essential Application Architecture Diagrams

Why is documenting application architecture important.

Documenting application architecture is essential to every aspect of software system management, from design, to maintenance, to expansion. Good architecture documentation provides important context that shapes decisions and helps teams work better together.

The biggest challenge in building application architecture documentation is that its development must be an intentional effort. So many of the decisions that go into the creation of a software system take place in casual, interactive contexts that aren’t meant to last, like whiteboard sketches, chats between team members on Slack or email threads, or verbal conversations.

So how do you make sure you’re not losing that important context? Implement the creation of documentation into the design process, and  put in the effort to make it detailed, clear, and accessible to your team. To learn more ways to do that, check out our blog on software documentation best practices — but here we’ll focus on one important way: diagramming for documentation.

How Do Diagrams Make Documentation Better?

Diagramming is a key part of application architecture documentation because it provides a way to understand complex systems and processes at a glance, making documentation more readable for all users and more useful for collaborating with non-technical stakeholders.

But in order for your diagrams to truly make an impact, it’s important that the diagrams you use are well-constructed and are the right types for what you need to convey. How do you decide which diagrams to use in your documentation and where to begin?

There are certain diagram types commonly used to visualize application architecture, and these range from more broad to more specific, so they can be used by a wide range of audiences. We will explore a few of those and provide all the resources you’ll need to make your own.

You can follow along with our tutorials to diagram directly alongside your documentation in Confluence — no extra logins, windows, or uploads. If you don’t use Confluence, try our online diagramming tool, Gliffy Online , which lets you embed your diagrams wherever your team works.

What Are the Essential Application Architecture Diagrams?

Research from Gartner shows that the diagram types described below will often be the most helpful types when you are putting together architecture documentation. We’ll give a brief summary of each one and what it describes, and guide you toward the resources you’ll need to create your own.

1. Component Diagrams

Image Blog UML Diagram Types and Templates

Component diagrams are the most conceptual type of application architecture diagram and are used to illustrate how various components connect to form a system. If you are creating documentation for business stakeholders, you’ll want to include component diagrams because they show the system’s structure without getting too deep into technical details — however, more technical versions of component diagrams can also be created for your technical team to refer to.

COMPONENT DIAGRAM TEMPLATE

2. Activity Diagrams

How to Make an Activity Diagram in UML

Activity diagrams show the activities that a system performs and are another type of diagram that effectively bridges the gap between technical and non-technical audiences. They can be used to communicate technical information about system processes in a way that is easy to understand at a glance. Whenever you’re working with system processes, an activity diagram may be helpful.

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM TUTORIAL

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM VIDEO

3. Data Flow Diagrams

Feature image for What is a Data Flow Diagram? blog post

Data flow diagrams , or DFDs, show the flow of information through a system or process using symbols and text labels. They can also be used to show non-technical audiences the solution or logical architecture of a system at a higher level. DFDs can even be used to visualize physical architecture. They have 3 levels of specificity, so make sure you choose the one that is right for your audience — our tutorial will help you determine the correct one.

DATA FLOW DIAGRAM TUTORIAL

4. Sequence Diagrams

How to Make a Sequence Diagram in UML — Video Thumbnail Image

Sequence diagrams display the way processes operate over time and how different parts of a system interact with each other, specifically in the order that it happens. Documenting a system in this way helps with understanding its requirements, which is important for onboarding new team members and making important decisions.

SEQUENCE DIAGRAM TUTORIAL

5. State Machine Diagrams

How to Make a State Diagram in UML — Video Thumbnail Image

State machine diagrams, also called state diagrams , model system behavior over a number of transitions so the designer can see the “state” of a system at any given time. These are helpful for visualizing dynamic systems whose responses may change based on certain events or circumstances. These structures are often complex, so visualizing them with a diagram is helpful when trying to describe and document them.

STATE MACHINE DIAGRAM TUTORIAL

6. Entity Relationship Diagrams

Image Blog Draw Entity Relationship Diagrams

Entity relationship diagrams are exactly what the name sounds like — they visualize the relationships between different entities in a defined space or system. They are commonly used in database design and show the structure of data or information in a system. The reason entity relationship diagrams are so essential is because working with a large amount of data can quickly become complex and overwhelming. Visualizing the structure of such data clearly is a great way to save time and effort in understanding it.

ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM TUTORIAL    ER DIAGRAM SYMBOLS

7. Deployment Diagrams

Deployment diagrams show where pieces of software live on each piece of hardware by mapping out their artifacts or nodes. They also show the relationships between those pieces. These are different from many of the other diagram types on this list because they strictly show physical structures as opposed to logical ones, but are just as important for documenting your application architecture.

DEPLOYMENT DIAGRAM TEMPLATE

Diagram Your Application Architecture Alongside Your Documentation

Creating diagrams for your documentation has never been easier. With Gliffy, you can create, share, and collaborate on technical diagrams without ever leaving Confluence, helping your team save valuable time and build resources that ensure future work is successful.

Not a Confluence user? We’ve still got you covered. Gliffy Online makes it easy and intuitive to draw even the most technical of diagrams and place them wherever you need them.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to start your free trial of Gliffy to start building the essential application architecture diagrams and take your documentation to the next level.

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Project Management

10 diagram examples for any type of project.

Haillie Parker

May 4, 2023

We’ve all heard the phrase quality over quantity , right? 

While fighting tooth and nail through middle school, this was the mantra to live by, and even now, this sentiment still rings true when it comes to many things in life. 

But that’s the point! We now know quality and quantity are necessary and constant elements of life. 

Whether your information is qualitative or quantitative, we need to look at these items as separate entities to understand them properly. That’s where graphs and diagrams come in handy. 

Numerical information is represented by things like columns, line graphs, bar charts, or—my personal favorite—pie charts.

Whereas qualitative data (information not defined by a single number) is better represented by diagrams like Mind Maps or Gantt Charts . 

Both are key to the success of any healthy business, but sometimes, coming up with the right diagrams to best convey qualitative information is tough . That’s why you’re going to love this blog.

Consider this article your new go-to guide for the top 10 diagrams you need to know for any type of workflow, including when to use them, examples, real-life testimonials, and must-have tricks for making them fast.

1. Mind map diagram

2. hierarchy diagram, 3. matrix diagram, 4. circle diagram, 5. swot analysis diagram, 6. org chart diagram, 7. gantt chart diagram , 8. workflow diagram .

  • 9. Flowchart diagram 

10. PERT chart diagram

10 types of diagrams examples for your team.

Before we go any further here, let’s set something straight. What is qualitative data?

Qualitative data is any information that cannot be expressed with a numerical value or counted. This may include steps in a workflow, members of an organization, images, concepts, timelines, and much more. 

Like quantitative data, there is a right and a wrong way to express qualitative data depending on what you try to do with it. This is why it’s key to determine your information’s purpose before committing to a specific diagram type.

This may sound like a tall ask, but for all of my fellow visual learners out there, it’ll make a lot more sense when you see examples IRL—which we have for you! 

So without further ado, here are our 10 favorite diagrams with examples.

P.S. super helpful templates lie ahead .

If you’ve ever used a free project management software like ClickUp , you’ve probably heard of this popular workflow diagram. Mind maps are an excellent tool for diagramming , planning workflows, visualizing task dependencies, brainstorming new processes —and feeling creative while doing it! 

These diagrams typically start with one main idea or with an end goal in mind to branch out, and your diagram naturally takes shape from there. They are highly visual, and the best ones are also flexible, customizable, and collaborative. 

Like a web or even a stream of consciousness, mind maps connect ideas (nodes) together to visually convey how one project phase leads to the next. 

Mind Maps in ClickUp

And that’s not even the best part! Mind maps can be as structured or free-form as you please. With resources like digital whiteboards , you can build your Mind map like you would any daytime doodle—adding shapes, connectors, media, and even bringing the entire team into the mix. 

When to use a mind map diagram?

While this is a popular diagram for planning new business processes or projects, mind maps are also used for things like network maps describing different roles in a company, brainstorming possible answers to a central question, or exploring subtopics of a larger theme.

Don’t feel too bogged down by the rules here, Mind maps are meant to be customized. Plus, with the help of one of the many free Mind Map templates and resources available to you, you’ll never feel alone in the process of creating your very first one. 

Use mind maps to flesh out plans or strategies for tasks in your personal and professional lives including:

  • Business growth
  • Brainstorming
  • Infographic presentations
  • Time Management

And more!  

Ready to make a Mind map of your own? Start here with this Simple Mind Map template by ClickUp and watch your workflow come to life. 💜

If you listen closely, you can almost hear the unanimous “Ahhhhh” and agreeable nod from every ClickUp user around the world . We love hierarchy diagrams—it’s the foundation of our platform! 

Like a Russian nesting doll, hierarchy diagrams start with one, all-encompassing topic (like your entire organization or a large department) and categorizes everything under that umbrella by breaking them down into similar, more manageable chunks. 

We could talk about our Hierarchy system for days! Read more about how ClickUp’s unique Hierarchy can help you create the perfect infrastructure to scale your business. 

When to use a hierarchy diagram?

Hierarchy diagrams are a highly visual way of organizing everything—from organizations to departments, complex projects, and daily tasks. 

While organizational charts show the relationships between the people in each role, hierarchy diagrams show how each daily task or project fits into the big picture. 

You’ve definitely seen this type of diagram before—maybe even used one to make sense of a complicated situation or a big decision! 

Ideal for categorizing multiple items, matrix diagrams are composed of four quadrants across two axes. Each quadrant represents a different category while both axes sometimes represent two opposing constant themes—AKA, how well or poorly something is performing, how much or how little something occurs, etc. Still, the axes don’t necessarily have to represent anything. In some cases, the axes simply serve as boundaries to visually divide data into four areas. 

Like mind maps, matrix templates are customizable. Information can be divided into quadrants in a list form or plotted at specific points relative to what the axes represent. 

When to use a matrix diagram?

Matrix diagrams can be used for things in both personal and professional realms. Project managers may use this type of diagram to: 

  • Determine the potential success of a new project
  • Identify areas of need in their business strategy
  • Prioritize new ideas
  • Compare their projects ‘ own competitiveness against similar existing projects

Use ClickUp’s traceability matrix to track all of the technical details of your business.

And did we mention that matrix diagrams are useful across industries? 

One of the primary diagrams that I always utilize and advocate for is the Responsibility Assignment Matrix, otherwise known as the RACI (meaning Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed). The RACI matrix is part of the larger domain of stakeholder management and engagement that allows the team and project manager to stay organized. The purpose of the RACI matrix is to assess stakeholders and document each person’s role and responsibility in a specific project. RACI matrixes need to be simple and digestible; any team member should be able to view and understand the matrix without difficulty. The main contributor to a RACI matrix is the project manager and project team, as the best use of this diagram is for each member to hold each other accountable for their work while acting as a reference for project managers to delegate work to the correct individual.

Christian Figueroa Author Image

Almost like the qualitative counterpart to your classic pie chart, circle diagrams show how different elements come together to create one whole product or idea. But here’s the kicker—instead of conveying how much of the circle (or pie) each component represents, the sections of a circle diagram are all divided equally.

Circle diagrams can be created using one circle divided by a certain number of categories or as a number of circles, arranged in a circle. 🤯

You can customize your circle diagram with colors or images that relate to each component. You can also rank each piece of the circle diagram using concentric circles to convey the hierarchy or importance of each layer. 

Simple Circle Diagram in ClickUp Whiteboards

When to use a circle diagram? 

This type of diagram is extremely versatile. Whether you’re showing the different cities that make up a state or the phases necessary to complete a single project, circle diagrams are excellent visual aids to have handy for meetings with project stakeholders , while pitching new ideas, or breaking down a multi-step process. 

Bonus: Stakeholder Management Software !

SWOT analysis diagrams look very similar to matrix diagrams, and some teams may even use them interchangeably. Still, SWOT analysis diagrams have a narrowly defined objective. 

Many diagrams on this list have wonderfully blurry boundaries that you can bend and customize to your needs, but SWOT diagrams are not necessarily the same way. For example, you can tweak your matrix diagram into becoming a SWOT diagram, but not the other way around. And that’s because the boundaries of this diagram are spelled out in its name!

S : Strengths W : Weaknesses O : Opportunities T : Threats

Like a matrix diagram, you’ll use two axes to create four quadrants, then label each quadrant to represent the four areas of SWOT. 

SWOT analysis diagrams are used to determine how your business or product stacks up against internal and external factors. 

  • What are the strengths of your product?
  • Are there any internal areas of weakness or reasons that may deter a customer from choosing your product?
  • How can you use external opportunities to grow? Are there clear areas in your control that you can leverage like training, people, or resources that can help you improve?
  • What external factors are threatening your product’s performance? AKA, cheaper alternatives, obstacles, similar competitors, etc.

The creativity in your SWOT diagram comes in the form of how you create your four quadrants, colors, media, images, and details you add to your resource. That’s the beauty of this diagram!

They are easy to set up on paper or on a digital whiteboard, leaving you ample time to fill in your diagram as you please. 🎨

When to use a SWOT diagram?

No matter your business or product, SWOT analysis diagrams are key for determining things like your product market fit or proving your future success. 

A SWOT analysis chart can be used to identify and assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business. A SWOT analysis is not a static exercise—it should be conducted on a regular basis to ensure that the information is accurate and up-to-date. In our case, this exercise is extremely beneficial. It helped us focus our efforts on areas that are most likely to lead to success and to develop strategies for dealing with potential problems. For example, we have greatly improved our new member onboarding process, resulting in a much faster integration within the team.

Asako Ito Author Image

You don’t have to your own business to benefit from SWOT analyses, you can also use them to determine your own areas of strength and improvement as a leader, freelancer, or entrepreneur. 

As a business strategist, I create a SWOT analysis for my business every quarter and I advise my clients to do the same. A SWOT analysis reminds leaders of their business’ strengths but also the weak areas that need work, as well as external opportunities and threats to watch. Because the business world and especially the online/digital world is evolving so quickly, a quarterly SWOT analysis helps businesses take advantage of trends and pivot their business or marketing strategy in a timely manner.

Jennifer Drago Author Image

Similar to a hierarchy diagram, an organizational chart breaks down the roles and relationships between every position in an organization. Org charts can be represented top to bottom, horizontally, as an organizational matrix , or TBH, any other way that makes sense to you.

Think of your org chart as the family tree of your company—expressing how the chain of command flows through the entire organization and who directly reports to whom. 

Learn how to make an org chart in Google Sheets!

When to use an org chart diagram? 

You may feel like you have a pretty solid grasp on your organizational structure already, but it’s always a good idea to have an org chart on hand as a resource to fellow team members, new employees, potential investors, and stakeholders. 

Plus, the only constant thing in life is change . Having an org chart on hand is often the most effective way to convey updates to the chain of command, how decisions affect the entire group, and internal moves. 

What’s more, an updated and easily accessible org chart is a great way to encourage internal networking.

Empower your employees to collaborate across departments or reach out to potential mentors who they otherwise may have never met! 

Check out these UML diagram tools !

As a startup, it’s important to align everyone in the organization and have clear roles of responsibility. We have a dynamic org chart to show clear reporting structures for all the employees in the company. With everyone understanding their roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures, we work together more efficiently, understand each other’s expectations, and achieve common goals while communicating honestly and openly.

Chad Rubin Author Image

Another ClickUp favorite. 💖

A Gantt chart diagram represents the timeline of a project, organized horizontally on a bar chart. 

Like the matrix diagram, Gantt charts lie on two axes. The X-axis relates directly to the timeline—the days, weeks, or months needed to cover the entirety of your project. The Y-axis houses each task needed to complete the project, each task is represented as a bar on your timeline. 

By stretching each bar (task) across the days or weeks needed to complete them, your Gantt chart takes form. The beginning of each bar represents the start date of each task and the end of the bar represents its deadline. 

example application diagram

Part of the beauty behind Gantt charts is how much information you can convey on one screen. Depending on the project management software you’re using or the template you’ve chosen, Gantt charts can visually communicate: 

  • Task relationships and dependencies
  • Task Milestones
  • Multiple projects at a time
  • Planned vs actual due dates
  • And so much more 🤯

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Gantt charts are every project manager’s dream, and we’ve got the ultimate Gantt chart guide for you to learn exactly why you need them in your life. 

When to use a Gantt chart diagram?

Gantt charts are easy to read and simple to set up, making them ideal for virtually any use case including construction projects , marketing campaigns, education, daily tasks, event planning, and more. 

And with the help of a flexible template , it’s never been easier to start a Gantt chart of your own! This simple Gantt chart template by ClickUp is the perfect starting point for anyone wishing to dip their toes in the fountain of Gantt charts. 

The beauty of qualitative data is that it can be expressed in so many different ways! You may already notice some crossover in similarities between different diagram examples on this list, or see how you could use two types of diagrams to represent the same set of information. 

Several of these diagrams are useful for planning out workflows to an extent, but workflow diagrams have a more specific end goal and require some non-negotiable pieces of information.

Workflow diagrams help you manage the time and tasks involved in reaching a goal by breaking things down into: 

  • What needs to be done
  • What’s in progress
  • What’s already finished 

These diagrams can take many shapes and forms depending on the complexity of your existing processes, but all will follow a logical, start-to-finish flow of tasks set against a timeline to ensure that you’re staying on track. 

Some common traits of workflow diagrams include swimlanes to define who is responsible for which tasks and arrows or connectors to show task relationships.

Bonus: RACI Chart Examples & RACI Chart Templates !

When to use a workflow diagram? 

Workflow diagrams are popular in project management but can also speak to virtually any personal process like your workday, quarterly goals, educational planning, or even training your new dog.

By clearly mapping out each phase in a project or goal, you can help prevent bottlenecks before they happen, improve communication among your team, increase efficiency, and take more ownership over the things you accomplish. We love that.

Bonus: Affinity diagram templates & affinity diagram tools !

When managing a group coaching program or cohort, it can feel like all the pieces of your administration, curriculum development, delivery, and student support are disorganized. As a consultant to founders of online educational and certification programs, I find that creating cohesive program management is essential to efficiency in managing online education. Within ClickUp, I’ve created a primary space under the ‘Group Coaching’ workflow with several folders organized based on this specific topic. By using the calendar view for the entire space and organizing the lists and folders by color within ClickUp, I can identify what upcoming live sessions are being held, which emails are in what status, and what posts are being scheduled or written for the community group. This workflow makes the most sense for virtual learning experiences, but can also be modified to accommodate in-person educational training.

Melody Johnson Author Image

9. Flowchart diagram  

Similar to a workflow diagram, flowcharts visualize the path you’ll take in a specific process. 

First, define a clear start and ending point to your diagram, then use shapes to represent each step in your process. Connect these shapes with lines and arrows to express the order of operations. 

Flowchart in ClickUp Whiteboards

When to use a flowchart diagram? 

While flowcharts are commonly used to map out a series of events from the beginning through the end, you can also add yes or no options to your shapes to add additional processes into your diagram in case something changes. 

In healthcare positions where you are patient-facing, in customer support, or solving a problem, this can be very helpful! 

For project managers, flowcharts are an excellent starting point to gauge the time, resources, and steps involved in completing new ventures. 

Use ClickUp’s swimlane flowchart template for your next project!

Last on our list are PERT chart diagrams , which are like mind maps that primarily focus on the project milestones that make up your critical path . 

Like flowcharts, PERT charts connect shapes (tasks) with arrows to convey the flow of events in a project—but are more so used for defining task relationships than providing updates on a project’s process. 

But with the right project management software, you can take PERT charts very far! Short for Program Evaluation Review Technique, PERT charts can help you visualize multiple paths to completion and prioritize your most important tasks. 

One drawback to PERT charts is that they can be a bit time-consuming to set up, edit, and update. Luckily, an intuitive and dynamic template like this PERT chart template by ClickUp was designed to tackle this exact challenge.

When to use a PERT chart diagram?  

PERT charts are a more high-level glimpse of a project. These are helpful diagrams to turn to when planning your project’s key milestones or laying down your critical path. Plus, PERT charts can give you an idea of how long each task might take, especially if you’re not heading into your project with a clear time estimate already in mind. 

Bonus: Draw.io alternatives

We used a PERT chart when building out our web application for our business. I’m not an engineer, but my co-founder is, so it was vital for him to build a chart that shows the flow of our systems and how they are dependent/independent of one another. This allows me to visualize the flow of data, application rendering, and the timeline for the data to flow throughout our different systems. Using this chart, my co-founder can easily articulate where problems are currently arising with our application and share these with other individuals and me across our team.

Nick Cotter Author Image

Create Diagrams Using ClickUp

Okay, that was a lot of diagrams—and at some point, you’ll probably need to use all of them! But there is a light at the end of this work-filled tunnel because you have ClickUp . 😊

ClickUp is the ultimate, all-in-one productivity platform to manage projects, create beautiful diagrams, and work with the team without ever having to open another tab. Among ClickUp’s ever-growing list of fully customizable features are built-in Mind Maps, Gantt, and digital Whiteboards tools—what more could you ask for?! 

We’ll show you how they work. 🤓

Gantt view in ClickUp

ClickUp is designed to optimize your processes and save you time, no matter the size of your team or industry. Typically, there’s a lot of work that goes into simply creating a Gantt chart and manual updating to make sure it stays useful to you! But in ClickUp, that’s not the case. 👏

Gantt view in ClickUp is directly connected to your workflow and automatically updates to reflect any and all progress you make.

Your timeline will naturally take shape as you add tasks, deadlines, and start dates to your project. 

ClickUp Mind Maps

ClickUp Mind Maps are perfect for creating network diagrams that outline the progression of your project. Mind Maps are also the ideal go-to for org charts, flowcharts, PERT charts, workflow charts, and so much more—they’re that versatile! 

Visually plan and organize ideas, tasks, workflows, and more, with ClickUp’s intuitive drag and drop functionality. Then drag branches to show task relationships and dependencies, or adjust your nodes’ locations to organize and rearrange your workspace.

And if you don’t want your Mind Map to be all about the tasks, try Blank mode! The nodes won’t be tied to any specific task structure so you can get as creative as your heart desires. ❤️‍🔥 

ClickUp Whiteboards

Digital whiteboard software is all the rage right now, but did you know that ClickUp is one of the few platforms to build our own whiteboard feature in-house, from scratch? 🍪

ClickUp Whiteboards provide an infinite canvas to draw charts and diagrams of any kind—even Mind Maps, matrix, SWOT, circle diagrams, and virtually everything else. Not to mention, ClickUp offers tons of templates specifically for its collaborative Whiteboards to help you save time and get going ASAP. 

Add shapes that convert directly into ClickUp tasks and connect to your workflow, then draw connections between them to easily show the order of tasks. 

No matter your experience level, comfort with creativity, or desired diagram type, ClickUp Whiteboards will be your new favorite toy. 

And did we mention that all of these features are completely free ?

Start making your diagram process easier, more visual, and intuitive with Mind Maps, Gantt view, and Whiteboards in ClickUp! 📈

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What is Web Application Architecture? How It Works, Trends, Best Practices and More

What is Web Application Architecture? How It Works, Trends, Best Practices and More

At Stackify, we understand the amount of effort that goes into creating great applications. That’s why we build tools for Application Performance Management (APM), log management , and a whole suite of application support tools (in one solution) to make your life easier and your apps better. But every developer knows that the foundation of an outstanding application is its architecture. In this overview, we’ll take a closer look at web application architecture, its importance for future growth, current trends, and best practices.

A Definition of Web Application Architecture

Web application architecture defines the interactions between applications, middleware systems and databases to ensure multiple applications can work together. When a user types in a URL and taps “Go,” the browser will find the Internet-facing computer the website lives on and requests that particular page.

The server then responds by sending files over to the browser. After that action, the browser executes those files to show the requested page to the user. Now, the user gets to interact with the website. Of course, all of these actions are executed within a matter of seconds. Otherwise, users wouldn’t bother with websites.

What’s important here is the code, which has been parsed by the browser. This very code may or may not have specific instructions telling the browser how to react to a wide swath of inputs. As a result, web application architecture includes all sub-components and external applications interchanges for an entire software application.

Of course, it is designed to function efficiently while meeting its specific needs and goals. Web application architecture is critical since the majority of global network traffic, and every single app and device uses web-based communication. It deals with scale, efficiency, robustness, and security.

How Web Application Architecture Works

With web applications, you have the server vs. the client side . In essence, there are two programs running concurrently:

  • The code which lives in the browser and responds to user input
  • The code which lives on the server and responds to HTTP requests

Web Application Architecture Example

Image via Wikipedia

When writing an app, it is up to the web developer to decide what the code on the server should do in relation to what the code on the browser should do. With server-side code, languages include:

  • Ruby on Rails

In fact, any code that can respond to HTTP requests has the capability to run on a server. Here are a few other attributes of server-side code:

  • Is never seen by the user (except within a rare malfunction)
  • Stores data such as user profiles, tweets, pages, etc…
  • Creates the page the user requested

With client-side code, languages used include:

These are then parsed by the user’s browser. Moreover, client-side code can be seen and edited by the user. Plus, it has to communicate only through HTTP requests and cannot read files off of a server directly. Furthermore, it reacts to user input.

Web Application Architecture is Important for Supporting Future Growth

The reason why it is imperative to have good web application architecture is because it is the blueprint for supporting future growth which may come from increased demand, future interoperability and enhanced reliability requirements. Through object-oriented programming , the organizational design of web application architecture defines precisely how an application will function. Some features include:

  • Delivering persistent data through HTTP, which can be understood by client-side code and vice-versa
  • Making sure requests contain valid data
  • Offers authentication for users
  • Limits what users can see based on permissions
  • Creates, updates and deletes records

Trends in Web Application Architecture

As technology continues to evolve, so does web application architecture. One such trend is the use of and creation of service-oriented architecture . This is where most of the code for the entire application exists as services. In addition, each has its own HTTP API. As a result, one facet of the code can make a request to another part of the code–which may be running on a different server.

Another trend is a single-page application. This is where web UI is presented through a rich JavaScript application. It then stays in the user’s browser over a variety of interactions. In terms of requests, it uses AJAX or WebSockets for performing asynchronous or synchronous requests to the web server without having to load the page.

The user then gets a more natural experience with limited page load interruptions. At their core, many web applications are built around objects. The objects are stored in tables via an SQL database. Each row in a table has a particular record. So, with relational databases, it is all about relations. You can call on records just by listing the row and column for a target data point.

With the two above trends, web apps are now much better suited for viewing on multiple platforms and multiple devices. Even when most of the code for the apps remain the same, they can still be viewed clearly and easily on a smaller screen.

Best Practices for Good Web Application Architecture

You may have a working app, but it also needs to have good web architecture. Here are several attributes necessary for good web application architecture:

  • Solves problems consistently and uniformly
  • Is as simple as possible
  • Supports the latest standards include A/B testing and analytics
  • Offers fast response times
  • Utilizes security standards to reduce the chance of malicious penetrations
  • Does not crash
  • Heals itself
  • Does not have a single point of failure
  • Scales out easily
  • Allows for easy creation of known data
  • Errors logged in a user-friendly way
  • Automated deployments

The reason the above factors are necessary is because, with the right attributes, you can build a better app. Not to mention, by supporting horizontal and vertical growth, software deployment is much more efficient, user-friendly and reliable. While web application architecture is vitally important, don’t forget to check out our BuildBetter archives for more tips and resources on building better apps from planning to post-production.

Additional Resources and Tutorials on Web Application Architecture

To learn more about best practices for sound web application architecture, including some helpful tutorials, visit the following resources:

  • Tutorial:Web Application Architecture and Deployment for Web Component Developer Exam
  • Web Application Architecture (based J2EE 1.4 Tutorial)
  • Web Application Architecture from 10,000 Feet
  • Modern web app architecture
  • Build and Deploy a Java Web Application with Docker and Semaphore

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Common web application architectures

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This content is an excerpt from the eBook, Architect Modern Web Applications with ASP.NET Core and Azure, available on .NET Docs or as a free downloadable PDF that can be read offline.

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"If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture." - Brian Foote and Joseph Yoder

Most traditional .NET applications are deployed as single units corresponding to an executable or a single web application running within a single IIS appdomain. This approach is the simplest deployment model and serves many internal and smaller public applications very well. However, even given this single unit of deployment, most non-trivial business applications benefit from some logical separation into several layers.

What is a monolithic application?

A monolithic application is one that is entirely self-contained, in terms of its behavior. It may interact with other services or data stores in the course of performing its operations, but the core of its behavior runs within its own process and the entire application is typically deployed as a single unit. If such an application needs to scale horizontally, typically the entire application is duplicated across multiple servers or virtual machines.

All-in-one applications

The smallest possible number of projects for an application architecture is one. In this architecture, the entire logic of the application is contained in a single project, compiled to a single assembly, and deployed as a single unit.

A new ASP.NET Core project, whether created in Visual Studio or from the command line, starts out as a simple "all-in-one" monolith. It contains all of the behavior of the application, including presentation, business, and data access logic. Figure 5-1 shows the file structure of a single-project app.

A single project ASP.NET Core app

Figure 5-1. A single project ASP.NET Core app.

In a single project scenario, separation of concerns is achieved through the use of folders. The default template includes separate folders for MVC pattern responsibilities of Models, Views, and Controllers, as well as additional folders for Data and Services. In this arrangement, presentation details should be limited as much as possible to the Views folder, and data access implementation details should be limited to classes kept in the Data folder. Business logic should reside in services and classes within the Models folder.

Although simple, the single-project monolithic solution has some disadvantages. As the project's size and complexity grows, the number of files and folders will continue to grow as well. User interface (UI) concerns (models, views, controllers) reside in multiple folders, which aren't grouped together alphabetically. This issue only gets worse when additional UI-level constructs, such as Filters or ModelBinders, are added in their own folders. Business logic is scattered between the Models and Services folders, and there's no clear indication of which classes in which folders should depend on which others. This lack of organization at the project level frequently leads to spaghetti code .

To address these issues, applications often evolve into multi-project solutions, where each project is considered to reside in a particular layer of the application.

What are layers?

As applications grow in complexity, one way to manage that complexity is to break up the application according to its responsibilities or concerns. This approach follows the separation of concerns principle and can help keep a growing codebase organized so that developers can easily find where certain functionality is implemented. Layered architecture offers a number of advantages beyond just code organization, though.

By organizing code into layers, common low-level functionality can be reused throughout the application. This reuse is beneficial because it means less code needs to be written and because it can allow the application to standardize on a single implementation, following the don't repeat yourself (DRY) principle.

With a layered architecture, applications can enforce restrictions on which layers can communicate with other layers. This architecture helps to achieve encapsulation. When a layer is changed or replaced, only those layers that work with it should be impacted. By limiting which layers depend on which other layers, the impact of changes can be mitigated so that a single change doesn't impact the entire application.

Layers (and encapsulation) make it much easier to replace functionality within the application. For example, an application might initially use its own SQL Server database for persistence, but later could choose to use a cloud-based persistence strategy, or one behind a web API. If the application has properly encapsulated its persistence implementation within a logical layer, that SQL Server-specific layer could be replaced by a new one implementing the same public interface.

In addition to the potential of swapping out implementations in response to future changes in requirements, application layers can also make it easier to swap out implementations for testing purposes. Instead of having to write tests that operate against the real data layer or UI layer of the application, these layers can be replaced at test time with fake implementations that provide known responses to requests. This approach typically makes tests much easier to write and much faster to run when compared to running tests against the application's real infrastructure.

Logical layering is a common technique for improving the organization of code in enterprise software applications, and there are several ways in which code can be organized into layers.

Layers represent logical separation within the application. In the event that application logic is physically distributed to separate servers or processes, these separate physical deployment targets are referred to as tiers . It's possible, and quite common, to have an N-Layer application that is deployed to a single tier.

Traditional "N-Layer" architecture applications

The most common organization of application logic into layers is shown in Figure 5-2.

Typical application layers

Figure 5-2. Typical application layers.

These layers are frequently abbreviated as UI, BLL (Business Logic Layer), and DAL (Data Access Layer). Using this architecture, users make requests through the UI layer, which interacts only with the BLL. The BLL, in turn, can call the DAL for data access requests. The UI layer shouldn't make any requests to the DAL directly, nor should it interact with persistence directly through other means. Likewise, the BLL should only interact with persistence by going through the DAL. In this way, each layer has its own well-known responsibility.

One disadvantage of this traditional layering approach is that compile-time dependencies run from the top to the bottom. That is, the UI layer depends on the BLL, which depends on the DAL. This means that the BLL, which usually holds the most important logic in the application, is dependent on data access implementation details (and often on the existence of a database). Testing business logic in such an architecture is often difficult, requiring a test database. The dependency inversion principle can be used to address this issue, as you'll see in the next section.

Figure 5-3 shows an example solution, breaking the application into three projects by responsibility (or layer).

A simple monolithic application with three projects

Figure 5-3. A simple monolithic application with three projects.

Although this application uses several projects for organizational purposes, it's still deployed as a single unit and its clients will interact with it as a single web app. This allows for very simple deployment process. Figure 5-4 shows how such an app might be hosted using Azure.

Simple deployment of Azure Web App

Figure 5-4. Simple deployment of Azure Web App

As application needs grow, more complex and robust deployment solutions may be required. Figure 5-5 shows an example of a more complex deployment plan that supports additional capabilities.

Deploying a web app to an Azure App Service

Figure 5-5. Deploying a web app to an Azure App Service

Internally, this project's organization into multiple projects based on responsibility improves the maintainability of the application.

This unit can be scaled up or out to take advantage of cloud-based on-demand scalability. Scaling up means adding additional CPU, memory, disk space, or other resources to the server(s) hosting your app. Scaling out means adding additional instances of such servers, whether these are physical servers, virtual machines, or containers. When your app is hosted across multiple instances, a load balancer is used to assign requests to individual app instances.

The simplest approach to scaling a web application in Azure is to configure scaling manually in the application's App Service Plan. Figure 5-6 shows the appropriate Azure dashboard screen to configure how many instances are serving an app.

App Service Plan scaling in Azure

Figure 5-6. App Service Plan scaling in Azure.

Clean architecture

Applications that follow the Dependency Inversion Principle as well as the Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles tend to arrive at a similar architecture. This architecture has gone by many names over the years. One of the first names was Hexagonal Architecture, followed by Ports-and-Adapters. More recently, it's been cited as the Onion Architecture or Clean Architecture . The latter name, Clean Architecture, is used as the name for this architecture in this e-book.

The eShopOnWeb reference application uses the Clean Architecture approach in organizing its code into projects. You can find a solution template you can use as a starting point for your own ASP.NET Core solutions in the ardalis/cleanarchitecture GitHub repository or by installing the template from NuGet .

Clean architecture puts the business logic and application model at the center of the application. Instead of having business logic depend on data access or other infrastructure concerns, this dependency is inverted: infrastructure and implementation details depend on the Application Core. This functionality is achieved by defining abstractions, or interfaces, in the Application Core, which are then implemented by types defined in the Infrastructure layer. A common way of visualizing this architecture is to use a series of concentric circles, similar to an onion. Figure 5-7 shows an example of this style of architectural representation.

Clean Architecture; onion view

Figure 5-7. Clean Architecture; onion view

In this diagram, dependencies flow toward the innermost circle. The Application Core takes its name from its position at the core of this diagram. And you can see on the diagram that the Application Core has no dependencies on other application layers. The application's entities and interfaces are at the very center. Just outside, but still in the Application Core, are domain services, which typically implement interfaces defined in the inner circle. Outside of the Application Core, both the UI and the Infrastructure layers depend on the Application Core, but not on one another (necessarily).

Figure 5-8 shows a more traditional horizontal layer diagram that better reflects the dependency between the UI and other layers.

Clean Architecture; horizontal layer view

Figure 5-8. Clean Architecture; horizontal layer view

Note that the solid arrows represent compile-time dependencies, while the dashed arrow represents a runtime-only dependency. With the clean architecture, the UI layer works with interfaces defined in the Application Core at compile time, and ideally shouldn't know about the implementation types defined in the Infrastructure layer. At run time, however, these implementation types are required for the app to execute, so they need to be present and wired up to the Application Core interfaces via dependency injection.

Figure 5-9 shows a more detailed view of an ASP.NET Core application's architecture when built following these recommendations.

ASP.NET Core architecture diagram following Clean Architecture

Figure 5-9. ASP.NET Core architecture diagram following Clean Architecture.

Because the Application Core doesn't depend on Infrastructure, it's very easy to write automated unit tests for this layer. Figures 5-10 and 5-11 show how tests fit into this architecture.

UnitTestCore

Figure 5-10. Unit testing Application Core in isolation.

IntegrationTests

Figure 5-11. Integration testing Infrastructure implementations with external dependencies.

Since the UI layer doesn't have any direct dependency on types defined in the Infrastructure project, it's likewise very easy to swap out implementations, either to facilitate testing or in response to changing application requirements. ASP.NET Core's built-in use of and support for dependency injection makes this architecture the most appropriate way to structure non-trivial monolithic applications.

For monolithic applications, the Application Core, Infrastructure, and UI projects are all run as a single application. The runtime application architecture might look something like Figure 5-12.

ASP.NET Core Architecture 2

Figure 5-12. A sample ASP.NET Core app's runtime architecture.

Organizing code in Clean Architecture

In a Clean Architecture solution, each project has clear responsibilities. As such, certain types belong in each project and you'll frequently find folders corresponding to these types in the appropriate project.

Application Core

The Application Core holds the business model, which includes entities, services, and interfaces. These interfaces include abstractions for operations that will be performed using Infrastructure, such as data access, file system access, network calls, etc. Sometimes services or interfaces defined at this layer will need to work with non-entity types that have no dependencies on UI or Infrastructure. These can be defined as simple Data Transfer Objects (DTOs).

Application Core types

  • Entities (business model classes that are persisted)
  • Aggregates (groups of entities)
  • Domain Services
  • Specifications
  • Custom Exceptions and Guard Clauses
  • Domain Events and Handlers

Infrastructure

The Infrastructure project typically includes data access implementations. In a typical ASP.NET Core web application, these implementations include the Entity Framework (EF) DbContext, any EF Core Migration objects that have been defined, and data access implementation classes. The most common way to abstract data access implementation code is through the use of the Repository design pattern .

In addition to data access implementations, the Infrastructure project should contain implementations of services that must interact with infrastructure concerns. These services should implement interfaces defined in the Application Core, and so Infrastructure should have a reference to the Application Core project.

Infrastructure types

  • EF Core types ( DbContext , Migration )
  • Data access implementation types (Repositories)
  • Infrastructure-specific services (for example, FileLogger or SmtpNotifier )

The user interface layer in an ASP.NET Core MVC application is the entry point for the application. This project should reference the Application Core project, and its types should interact with infrastructure strictly through interfaces defined in Application Core. No direct instantiation of or static calls to the Infrastructure layer types should be allowed in the UI layer.

UI Layer types

  • Controllers
  • Custom Filters
  • Custom Middleware

The Startup class or Program.cs file is responsible for configuring the application, and for wiring up implementation types to interfaces. The place where this logic is performed is known as the app's composition root , and is what allows dependency injection to work properly at run time.

In order to wire up dependency injection during app startup, the UI layer project may need to reference the Infrastructure project. This dependency can be eliminated, most easily by using a custom DI container that has built-in support for loading types from assemblies. For the purposes of this sample, the simplest approach is to allow the UI project to reference the Infrastructure project (but developers should limit actual references to types in the Infrastructure project to the app's composition root).

Monolithic applications and containers

You can build a single and monolithic-deployment based Web Application or Service and deploy it as a container. Within the application, it might not be monolithic but organized into several libraries, components, or layers. Externally, it's a single container with a single process, single web application, or single service.

To manage this model, you deploy a single container to represent the application. To scale, just add additional copies with a load balancer in front. The simplicity comes from managing a single deployment in a single container or VM.

Figure 5-13

You can include multiple components/libraries or internal layers within each container, as illustrated in Figure 5-13. But, following the container principle of "a container does one thing, and does it in one process ", the monolithic pattern might be a conflict.

The downside of this approach comes if/when the application grows, requiring it to scale. If the entire application scales, it's not really a problem. However, in most cases, a few parts of the application are the choke points requiring scaling, while other components are used less.

Using the typical eCommerce example, what you likely need to scale is the product information component. Many more customers browse products than purchase them. More customers use their basket than use the payment pipeline. Fewer customers add comments or view their purchase history. And you likely only have a handful of employees, in a single region, that need to manage the content and marketing campaigns. By scaling the monolithic design, all the code is deployed multiple times.

In addition to the "scale everything" problem, changes to a single component require complete retesting of the entire application, and a complete redeployment of all the instances.

The monolithic approach is common, and many organizations are developing with this architectural approach. Many are having good enough results, while others are hitting limits. Many designed their applications in this model, because the tools and infrastructure were too difficult to build service-oriented architectures (SOA), and they didn't see the need until the app grew. If you find you're hitting the limits of the monolithic approach, breaking up the app to enable it to better leverage containers and microservices may be the next logical step.

Figure 5-14

Deploying monolithic applications in Microsoft Azure can be achieved using dedicated VMs for each instance. Using Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets , you can easily scale the VMs. Azure App Services can run monolithic applications and easily scale instances without having to manage the VMs. Azure App Services can run single instances of Docker containers as well, simplifying the deployment. Using Docker, you can deploy a single VM as a Docker host, and run multiple instances. Using the Azure balancer, as shown in the Figure 5-14, you can manage scaling.

The deployment to the various hosts can be managed with traditional deployment techniques. The Docker hosts can be managed with commands like docker run performed manually, or through automation such as Continuous Delivery (CD) pipelines.

Monolithic application deployed as a container

There are benefits of using containers to manage monolithic application deployments. Scaling the instances of containers is far faster and easier than deploying additional VMs. Even when using virtual machine scale sets to scale VMs, they take time to create. When deployed as app instances, the configuration of the app is managed as part of the VM.

Deploying updates as Docker images is far faster and network efficient. Docker Images typically start in seconds, speeding rollouts. Tearing down a Docker instance is as easy as issuing a docker stop command, typically completing in less than a second.

As containers are inherently immutable by design, you never need to worry about corrupted VMs, whereas update scripts might forget to account for some specific configuration or file left on the disk.

You can use Docker containers for a monolithic deployment of simpler web applications. This approach improves continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines and helps achieve deployment-to-production success. No more “It works on my machine, why does it not work in production?”

A microservices-based architecture has many benefits, but those benefits come at a cost of increased complexity. In some cases, the costs outweigh the benefits, so a monolithic deployment application running in a single container or in just a few containers is a better option.

A monolithic application might not be easily decomposable into well-separated microservices. Microservices should work independently of each other to provide a more resilient application. If you can't deliver independent feature slices of the application, separating it only adds complexity.

An application might not yet need to scale features independently. Many applications, when they need to scale beyond a single instance, can do so through the relatively simple process of cloning that entire instance. The additional work to separate the application into discrete services provides a minimal benefit when scaling full instances of the application is simple and cost-effective.

Early in the development of an application, you might not have a clear idea where the natural functional boundaries are. As you develop a minimum viable product, the natural separation might not yet have emerged. Some of these conditions might be temporary. You might start by creating a monolithic application, and later separate some features to be developed and deployed as microservices. Other conditions might be essential to the application's problem space, meaning that the application might never be broken into multiple microservices.

Separating an application into many discrete processes also introduces overhead. There's more complexity in separating features into different processes. The communication protocols become more complex. Instead of method calls, you must use asynchronous communications between services. As you move to a microservices architecture, you need to add many of the building blocks implemented in the microservices version of the eShopOnContainers application: event bus handling, message resiliency and retries, eventual consistency, and more.

The much simpler eShopOnWeb reference application supports single-container monolithic container usage. The application includes one web application that includes traditional MVC views, web APIs, and Razor Pages. Optionally, you can run the application's Blazor-based admin component, which requires a separate API project to run as well.

The application can be launched from the solution root using the docker-compose build and docker-compose up commands. This command configures a container for the web instance, using the Dockerfile found in the web project's root, and runs the container on a specified port. You can download the source for this application from GitHub and run it locally. Even this monolithic application benefits from being deployed in a container environment.

For one, the containerized deployment means that every instance of the application runs in the same environment. This approach includes the developer environment where early testing and development take place. The development team can run the application in a containerized environment that matches the production environment.

In addition, containerized applications scale out at a lower cost. Using a container environment enables greater resource sharing than traditional VM environments.

Finally, containerizing the application forces a separation between the business logic and the storage server. As the application scales out, the multiple containers will all rely on a single physical storage medium. This storage medium would typically be a high-availability server running a SQL Server database.

Docker support

The eShopOnWeb project runs on .NET. Therefore, it can run in either Linux-based or Windows-based containers. Note that for Docker deployment, you want to use the same host type for SQL Server. Linux-based containers allow a smaller footprint and are preferred.

You can use Visual Studio 2017 or later to add Docker support to an existing application by right-clicking on a project in Solution Explorer and choosing Add > Docker Support . This step adds the files required and modifies the project to use them. The current eShopOnWeb sample already has these files in place.

The solution-level docker-compose.yml file contains information about what images to build and what containers to launch. The file allows you to use the docker-compose command to launch multiple applications at the same time. In this case, it is only launching the Web project. You can also use it to configure dependencies, such as a separate database container.

The docker-compose.yml file references the Dockerfile in the Web project. The Dockerfile is used to specify which base container will be used and how the application will be configured on it. The Web ' Dockerfile :

Troubleshooting Docker problems

Once you run the containerized application, it continues to run until you stop it. You can view which containers are running with the docker ps command. You can stop a running container by using the docker stop command and specifying the container ID.

Note that running Docker containers may be bound to ports you might otherwise try to use in your development environment. If you try to run or debug an application using the same port as a running Docker container, you'll get an error stating that the server can't bind to that port. Once again, stopping the container should resolve the issue.

If you want to add Docker support to your application using Visual Studio, make sure Docker Desktop is running when you do so. The wizard won't run correctly if Docker Desktop isn't running when you start the wizard. In addition, the wizard examines your current container choice to add the correct Docker support. If you want to add, support for Windows Containers, you need to run the wizard while you have Docker Desktop running with Windows Containers configured. If you want to add, support for Linux containers, run the wizard while you have Docker running with Linux containers configured.

Other web application architectural styles

  • Web-Queue-Worker : The core components of this architecture are a web front end that serves client requests, and a worker that performs resource-intensive tasks, long-running workflows, or batch jobs. The web front end communicates with the worker through a message queue.
  • N-tier : An N-tier architecture divides an application into logical layers and physical tiers.
  • Microservice : A microservices architecture consists of a collection of small, autonomous services. Each service is self-contained and should implement a single business capability within a bounded context.

References – Common web architectures

  • The Clean Architecture https://blog.cleancoder.com/uncle-bob/2012/08/13/the-clean-architecture.html
  • The Onion Architecture https://jeffreypalermo.com/blog/the-onion-architecture-part-1/
  • The Repository Pattern https://deviq.com/repository-pattern/
  • Clean Architecture Solution Template https://github.com/ardalis/cleanarchitecture
  • Architecting Microservices e-book https://aka.ms/MicroservicesEbook
  • DDD (Domain-Driven Design) https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/architecture/microservices/microservice-ddd-cqrs-patterns/

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Web application architecture explained with a real-world example.

This article takes a deep dive into web application architecture with designing a real-world use case. If you have zero knowledge on the domain, after going through this article, you’ll have a fundamental understanding of the components involved in the web application architecture and how we build web applications fitting those components together like LEGO blocks. 

So, without further ado, let’s jump right into it. 

Typical web application architecture diagram 

Here is a generic architectural diagram of a web application that you’ll find in most of the applications running online today.

It contains:

  • The user interface component 
  • Backend application server 
  • A message queue 

Database 

You’ll find these components in most of the applications running online today on the web. Now we can further add more components to this architecture, such as the load balancer, CDN , cache, etc.

Every component in the architecture has a specific role. We will get into that, but let’s begin with the fundamental components of the application architecture. 

User Interface 

The user interface component gets displayed right into our browsers in the form of web pages. Web pages are written using HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and a plethora of JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, React, Vue, Svelte, etc., including a big number of JavaScript libraries. 

The interaction between the client (user interface) and the backend server involves a lot of technologies, such as AJAX, AJAX Long polling, HTML5 Event Source, Server-sent Events, Web Sockets, Streaming over HTTP, and more.

Every technology stated above has a specific use case; for instance, Web Sockets are preferred when we need a persistent bi-directional low latency data flow from the client to the server and back.

Typical use cases of web sockets are messaging, chat applications, real-time social streams, browser-based massive multiplayer games, etc. These are apps with quite a significant number of read-writes compared to a regular CRUD-based web app. 

Discussing every client-side technology would be overwhelming for an introductory write-up on web architecture. So, I am gonna skip them for now.

Though, if you want to understand web application architecture in-depth, check out my Web Application and Software Architecture 101 course . In this course, I take a deep dive into the modern application architecture, going into the details of every component, including the discussion on concepts like different tiers in the application architecture, the need for them, scalability, high availability, monolith and microservices, micro-frontends, message queues, stream processing, databases, mobile apps and more with relevant real-world examples. 

Client-side and Server-side Rendering of the User Interface

When a browser receives a web page from the server in response, it has to render the response on the window in the form of an HTML page.

To pull this off, the browser has several components, such as:

  • The browser engine
  • Rendering engine
  • JavaScript interpreter
  • Networking and the UI backend
  • Data storage etc.

I won’t go into much detail; the gist is the browser has to do a lot of work to convert the response from the server into an HTML page. The rendering engine constructs the DOM tree and renders and paints the construction, and so on.

This process is known as client-side rendering. 

Naturally, all this activity takes some time before the user can interact with the page.

To cut down all this rendering time on the client, developers often render the UI on the server, generate HTML there and directly send the HTML page to the UI. This technique is known as server-side rendering.

It ensures faster rendering of the UI, averting the UI loading time in the browser window because the page is already created, and the browser doesn’t have to do much assembling and rendering work.

The server-side rendering approach is perfect for delivering static content, such as WordPress blogs. It’s also good for SEO because the crawlers can easily read the generated content. For modern dynamic AJAX-based websites, where sections of a web page get updated in real-time, the client-side   rendering works best.

We generally leverage a hybrid approach to get the best of both worlds. We can use server-side rendering for the static content of our website and client-side rendering for dynamic.

Moving on to the backend server. 

Backend Application Server 

The backend application code is written in backend programming languages like Java, Python, PHP, etc. It mostly holds most of the business logic of the service. 

Why do I say mostly?

Because in some cases, it’s advantageous to put the business logic on the UI (User Interface). Though, this needs a consideration of the trade-offs involved. 

Keeping the business logic on the UI keeps the latency of the application low, proving to be an upside. Since the business logic and the user interface reside in the same machine, there are fewer network calls to the backend server, but the code is vulnerable to being accessed by evil people. Anyone can peep at the business logic of our application. 

Taking a to-do list app as an example, if the business logic is on the UI, the application makes a call to the backend server only when the user has finished creating their list and wants to persist the data. There is no need to send a request to the backend server every time the user adds/deletes or modifies an item to their list.

Another example is a browser or a mobile app-based game. The game files are pretty heavy, and they only get downloaded on the client once when the user uses the application for the first time. And they make the network calls to the backend only to persist the game state. All the logic resides on the UI.

Additionally, fewer server calls mean less money spent to keep the servers running, which is naturally economical. 

I’ve discussed the concept in much more detail in the “Different tiers in the web application architecture” chapter in my course . 

Application Flow 

The user interface is called the client in the architecture and the backend component is the server. Ideally, any application component or an entity that sends a request to the server is termed as a client. 

So, here is the application flow: 

The user interacts with the user interface. The UI sends a request to the backend server to run the business logic in accordance with the user’s activity. 

The backend server sends a request to the database to persist the user state and the data. The requests typically sent by the UI are CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) of data. 

Moving on to the database component.

The database is the component that persists the data in the application. Speaking of data, there are different forms of data such as structured, semi-structured, unstructured and the user state. 

There are different databases to handle different data forms, such as data involving a lot of relationships and connections between each other, typically seen between users and entities in a social network, fits best to be stored in a graph or a relational database. 

For ACID transactions and strong consistency, picking a relational database is a no-brainer.

When we need fast read writes, we can look towards NoSQL databases like MongoDB (a document-oriented database) or Cassandra (a column-family database). NoSQL databases are built with scalability in mind. They are designed to auto-scale on clusters without much fuss and human intervention. 

Looking to store streaming data with time as an important data point, like stock price movement, look for a time-series database. 

When discussing databases, there are a lot of concepts and trade-offs involved and I am just oversimplifying things here. 

I’ve discussed all these concepts in my course and will soon be adding a new chapter on scaling databases to it. 

Message Queue

A message queue, as the name says, is a queue that routes messages from the source to the destination or the sender to the receiver following the FIFO (First in, first out) policy.

Message queues facilitate asynchronous behavior in web applications. Asynchronous behavior allows the modules to communicate in the background without hindering their primary tasks. 

Message queues facilitate cross-module communication, which is key in service-oriented/ microservices architecture, enabling communication in a heterogeneous environment and providing temporary storage for storing messages until they are processed and consumed by the consumer.

Let’s understand this with the help of a real-world example. 

Message Queue Real-world Examples

Take an email service as an example. Both the sender and receiver of the email don’t have to be online at the same time to communicate with each other. The sender sends an email, and the message is temporarily stored on the message server until the recipient comes online and reads the message.

Another example, think of a user signing up on an application. After they sign up, they are immediately allowed to navigate to the application’s homepage, but the sign-up process isn’t complete yet. The system has to send a confirmation email to the user’s registered email id. Then, the user has to click on the confirmation email to confirm the sign-up event.

However, the website cannot keep the user waiting until it sends the email to the user. They are immediately allowed to navigate to the application’s home page to avert them from bouncing off.

So, the task of sending a sign-up confirmation email to the user is assigned as an asynchronous background process to a message queue. It sends an email while the user continues to browse the website.

This is how message queues are leveraged to add asynchronous behavior to an application. Message queues are also used to implement notification systems similar to Facebook notifications, which I’ve discussed in the course.

Now, let’s understand a few additional components in the web architecture: Cache and the Load balancer. 

Application caching ensures low latency and high throughput. An application with caching will undoubtedly do better than an application without caching simply because a cache intercepts all the requests darting towards the database and provides the response with very low latency.

Intercepting the database requests allows the database to free its resources to work with other requests, those requesting uncached data, open connections or write operations.

Implementing caching in a web application means copying frequently accessed data from the database disk and storing it in RAM (Random access memory) for quick response.

A cache can always handle more read requests than a database since it stores the data in a key-value pair and does not have to do much computation when returning the data in contrast to a database.

Frequently requested data queried from the database with the help of several table joins can be cached to avert the same joins query from being run every time the same data is requested. This increases throughput, performance and saves resources.

Load balancer

Load balancing enables our service to scale well and stay highly available when the traffic load increases. Load balancing is facilitated by load balancers, making them a key component in the web application architecture.

Load balancers distribute heavy traffic load across the servers running in the cluster based on several different algorithms. This averts the risk of all the traffic converging to a single or a few machines in the cluster. Here is a detailed read on CDNs and load balancers on this blog.

If the entire traffic on a particular service converges only to a few machines, this will cause an overload, subsequently spiking the latency also bringing down the application’s performance. The excess traffic might also result in the server nodes going offline. Load balancing helps us avoid all these nightmares.

While processing a user request, if a server goes down, the load balancer automatically routes the future requests to other up and running server nodes in the cluster. This enables the service as a whole to stay available.

Load balancers act as a single point of contact for all client requests.

They can also be set up at the application component level to efficiently manage traffic directed towards any application component, be it the backend application server, database component, message queue, or any other. This is done to uniformly spread the request load across the machines in the cluster powering that particular application component.

At this point in the article, I am sure you have a preliminary idea of web architecture. Now, let’s design a simple sports news web service putting together all the components we have learned. It will make things more clear.

Designing the architecture of a sports news service like ESPN 

Though the real-world architecture of a service like ESPN would be overly complex, I have oversimplified the architecture to avoid being overwhelmed and help you understand the concepts one step at a time. 

Microservices

A service like ESPN will have a microservice architecture as opposed to being a monolith . 

There will be different services having the onus of running specific functionalities of the system. For instance, there will be a service “ LIVE Score Service ” to persist the manually input data from the commentators and the scorers of every game. And the service will then move that data to the primary service to be displayed on the website.

Now, a site as big as ESPN would cover several sports such as Cricket, Baseball, Basketball, Football and so on. We can have a dedicated microservice to ingest data of every sport. 

Why do we need to have a separate microservice for every sport? Why not one?

A respective microservice for a particular sport will have several responsibilities, such as:

  • Ingest the manually input data from the commentators and the scorers and move it to the primary service in real-time.
  • Programmatically ingest data from the authorized broadcaster API of the sport if there are any. For instance, the official broadcaster may expose a dedicated score API for sports websites at a certain subscription price. 
  • Run business logic on the ingested data. Every sport will have separate business logic to be run on the data before it is passed to the primary service. 
  • Pass on the processed data (after adding their flavor) to other third-party services like news websites, gaming apps, etc., via an API at a certain subscription rate. 

It’s a cleaner approach to have a dedicated microservice for every sport. We can always tweak the code of a particular microservice without much fuss, keeping the ESPN architecture loosely coupled and highly available. 

Dedicated teams with respective domain knowledge can be assigned to work on the services of the respective sport. Also, in case there is a bug in a certain service, let’s say, the basketball service, which makes the service go down, other sports on the website stay unimpacted. 

Microservices: Tech Stack 

Speaking of the microservices tech stack, any mature backend language like Java, Python, etc., can be picked to write the microservice.

Every service will expose the data to the primary service via REST API and will also have a UI for the scorers and the commentators to feed their data in. 

The UI has to be responsive to be able to adjust well on small mobile windows as well as the desktop browser windows. We can also develop a mobile app for feeding in the data that would push the data to this particular sport microservice but let’s just stick to the responsive UI for brevity. 

Picking the right database is important here. We need fast read writes. A NoSQL database like Mongo DB or Cassandra will fit best for this use case. Cassandra is a column-family database built to handle petabyte-scale data , specializing in handling a lot of writes. 

Though in this case, only a limited number of resources would be updating the scores in real-time as opposed to millions of readers performing writes. Mongo DB would suit best as a database here.

Moving on to the primary service. 

Primary Service: ESPN Service for the End-User

A few primary responsibilities that the primary service will have are:

  • Ingest data from respective sports APIs and display the information on different sections of the web page. 
  • Display customized data to the user based on their preference and subscription plans. 
  • Display relevant ads to the end-users.

Once the ESPN website receives data from different microservices, it has to update different sections on the site’s page with the latest information. This can be done by leveraging AJAX, SSE (Server-sent events), HTTP Streaming, etc. 

Message Queues can be leveraged to build a notification system to send real-time notifications/scores to the end-users on their mobile or desktops. In my web architecture course, I’ve discussed how notification systems are developed using message queues.

Speaking of user data, based on their preferences and the subscription plans they have purchased, the website has to present the relevant data. The primary service has to run the business logic for all this on the backend before it displays data to the end users. 

It also has to keep track of the ads that are to be displayed on the website. We can have a separate service for this if the ad system is too complex. 

For instance, a site as big as ESPN would accept direct sponsorship ads from various companies based on the display location on the website, the viewer’s demographics, sports interests, and more. Also, manually communicating with companies is often not scalable. The site needs an ad slot purchase system that would enable the sales teams of companies to purchase the slots on the site without having to spend a lot of time communicating with ESPN back and forth. 

The site would also run ads from other third-party ad providers such as Google Ads. All this functionality would demand a separate service. 

Primary Service Tech Stack

Again the backend can be written with any of the mature backend languages like Java, Python, etc. 

We would need a relational database like MySQL here as we need strong consistency and ACID transactions for the sponsorships and the subscription plans purchase transactions. A relational database would also fit best for storing normalized user data. 

A cache like Memcache, Hazelcast, etc., can be leveraged to implement caching with short TTLs (Time to Live) since the site is read-heavy.

Service Deployment 

Different sports services can be deployed on the cloud in the cloud regions nearest to the end-users. For instance, the Cricket microservice can be deployed near the Indian sub-continent considering the heavy number of viewers from this geo-location. This is just one assumption, there would be other factors involved too like the countries playing the game, game venue etc.

On the other hand, the Baseball microservice can be deployed in a cloud region in the US following the same logic. We can also leverage the cloud edge locations to cut down the application latency as much as possible. 

Old data from past games can be archived by leveraging the cloud storage (Object, file or block). 

If you want to understand how the cloud deploys, scales, and monitors our services globally, the complete deployment infrastructure, and the workflow, check out my platform-agnostic cloud fundamentals course .

Well, Folks! This is pretty much it on the architecture of our sports website. I can go on and on till the minutest of details, but I believe this will suffice for an introductory article on web architecture. 

Where to go next?

Check out the article on application architecture which is a continuation of this, where I’ve discussed a high-level architecture of a food delivery service in detail.

If you found the content helpful, consider subscribing to my newsletter below to get the content published on this blog and more directly to your inbox. Also, do share it with your network for better reach. You can read about me here . I’ll see you around.

Distributed Systems For a complete list of similar articles on distributed systems and real-world architectures, here you go

Live Video Streaming Infrastructure at Twitch 

Wide-column Database, Column Databases - A Deep Dive

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Zero to Mastering Software Architecture Learning Path - Starting from Zero to Designing Web-Scale Distributed Applications Like a Pro. Check it out.

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Application Landscape Diagram

Managing the costs and complexity of the applications

application architecture diagrams

What is an Application Architecture Landscape and why is it so important to have?

An application landscape map or applications architecture diagram (A0 sized) is a logical functional and/or physical technical overview of all the software applications in the information systems and their interfaces and connections in an organization. An application landscape is a perfect visualization for managing the costs and complexity of your applications.

In many organizations there are hundreds, and if you count all unofficial spreadsheet apps with it, thousands of applications. And everyone in the business relies on them. In the current time of fast-changing needs, lots of applications are replaced, updated, integrated, and connected.

So to keep your business going, you need to know beforehand what the impact is of changing a certain application, made visible with the landscape. Having a printed poster or digital application map available is of great value.

Examples of applications architecture landscape diagrams are:

application landscape diagram

Application Landscape Diagram Example.

e-government example GEMMA

GEMMA (GEneral Municipal Model Architecture) e-Government Example.

How to create an Application Landscape diagram?

The process: An application landscape is often created by quickly scanning the installed base, doing interviews with users, and workshops with management. This gives a start to an overview of all the applications. Next, a process is implemented to keep the application landscape diagram overview up-to-date. The application landscape can then be used for decision-making and impact analyses of change.

The architecture: Dragon1 EA Method proposes to create an application metamodel and take time to carefully define the types of applications and the core functionality of the applications. This allows the maximization of deduplication.

More Landscape Examples

Other interesting Landscape Diagram examples are:

  • Watch Channels > Watch Dynamic Examples

Software Product

Dragon1 is the most suited software available for generating an application landscape based on information in a CMDB tool .

Solution for Application Rationalization

A solution in which often application landscape diagrams are used is Application Rationalization Deduplication .

All applications that duplicate functions are if possible phased out or switched off. The objective is to lower the complexity of the application landscape diagram and to average application cost. Read the case study Application Portfolio Management at a Bank.

You might also be interested in:

Get Started

Do you want to start immediately? You can purchase your Dragon1 PRO user license online in the Store. Do you know that you can use Dragon1 as a Solution for Cyber Security?

Architecting Solutions

DEMO: Concept Mapping Software

How to use Dragon1 EA Tool

DEMO: BPMN Onboarding Process Example

DEMO: BPMN Onboarding Process Diagram - Measure Rules Compliance

DEMO: Enterprise Architecture Blueprint Template

DEMO: Generate an Enterprise Architecture Blueprint to discover and solve RISK

DEMO: Process Application Map

DEMO: Generate Process Application Landscape for RPA

DEMO: Strategy Map Template

DEMO: Generate Strategy Map for CLOUD ADOPTION

DEMO: Data Mapping Software

DEMO: Generate Application Portfolio Diagram

Web Application Architecture [Complete Guide & Diagrams]

Rafał Jagoda

Web application architecture sets the foundation for all of the development work. Get it right and you will benefit from improved scalability, enhanced security, better performance, easier maintenance, and increased flexibility. Get it wrong and you’ll be suffering the consequences long after the software launches.

But designing the right web app architecture isn’t easy, especially when you’re part of the 70% of organizations that manage five different application architectures at once! That’s why we are providing a complete guide to web application architecture along with sample architecture diagrams to help you design an architecture that best addresses the needs of your web app.

Web application basics

What is web application architecture, why is web app architecture important, server-side rendered application (ssr), single-page application (spa), progressive web application (pwa), monolithic architecture, microservices architecture, serverless architecture, how to choose the right web application type & architecture, 5 steps to create a architecture diagram for a web application, what to include in a web application architecture diagram.

A web application, or web app, is software built using technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. They are typically accessed via a web browser and can be used to perform a wide range of tasks, from shopping and banking to streaming media and managing finances.

It’s important to understand that a web app is not a website. While the line might appear blurry, they are, in fact, different. Web apps and websites have different uses, user needs, and expectations. Websites are typically designed to provide users information or accept basic inputs from users. Web applications, on the other hand, are designed to be more interactive and dynamic.

Now that we know what a web app is, let’s talk more specifically about web application architecture. Essentially web app architecture is how a web app’s components are constructed and connected to each other.

What Is Web Application Architecture

Modern web application architecture is typically implemented with a 3-tier structure:

  • Presentation layer: This is the user interface of the web application. It is responsible for the visual aspects of the web application, such as the design of the user interface, the layout of the screens, and the navigation.
  • Application layer: This is the business logic layer. It is responsible for the logic and processes that the web application needs to perform. This includes the processing of user input, data manipulation, and the execution of business rules. One or multiple web servers live within the application layer.
  • Data layer: This layer is responsible for the persistent data storage and the retrieval of data when needed. It is typically composed of a database and other data stores such as files and web services. It’s worth noting that the data layer could have one or multiple databases, depending on the exact architecture.

The 3-tier structure is important because it helps to separate the different elements of a software application. By separating these components, the application can be designed to be more efficient and secure. It also makes it easier to maintain and extend over time.

It’s important to focus on getting the web application architecture right before any web development begins. Doing so will help to ensure that your web app is set up to provide a great experience for the end user and meet the demands of the business today, as well as for the future.

A well-designed, modern web application architecture will ensure your web app is:

  • Scalable: Every web app should be designed to accommodate changes in traffic and user needs over time. A well-designed web application architecture will ensure such changes in capacity are handled appropriately with no degradation in performance or reliability.
  • SEO-optimized: A well-designed web application architecture can help with SEO by optimizing the structure of the website to ensure that search engine crawlers can easily access and index the content as well as help ensure that the website is loading quickly,which can help improve overall rankings and visibility.
  • Secure: A well-designed architecture will keep web application components isolated from each other, helping to reduce the attack surface as well as help to protect data by providing secure authentication and authorization mechanisms.

On the flip side, if you don't take the time to build a good web app architecture, you may run into a lot of problems down the line. Without a solid architecture, your web application may have difficulty scaling, have poor performance, and be difficult to maintain. Additionally, you may find it difficult to ensure your application is secure, as it may be vulnerable to cyber attacks. Overall, architecture development should be an intentional part of building web applications.

Types of web applications

We’ve talked about the basics of web app architecture and looked at why it's important. Before we dive into specific web application architecture models, let’s take a step back and look at the main types of web applications themselves. Web apps come in a variety of types in order to meet the needs of a wide range of end-uses, from ultra-basic to highly complex, enterprise-level services.

We are going to focus on three of the most common types of web applications in this article, starting with server-side rendered applications.

SSR

Server-side rendered applications (SSR) are web applications that are rendered on the web server instead of in the browser or client-side. This means that the application code is executed on the one web server and the HTML is sent to the browser, which then displays the content to the user.

SSR applications provide a better user experience, faster page loads, and better SEO performance than client-side rendered applications. Furthermore, this type of application is more secure and can be scaled more easily than client-side rendered applications.

Easily indexed by search engines

Fast to develop using tools like Django Admin or ActiveAdmin

Hard to implement complex UI functionality

Slower initial reload times for complex views

POPULAR SSR TECHNOLOGIES

Django: An open-source, Python programming language - based web application framework, Django is one of the most popular technologies used for server-side rendered applications. It provides a powerful and intuitive framework for building complex web applications quickly and efficiently.

Next.js: A React-based JavaScript framework, Next.js is a popular and powerful tool for SSR web application development. It provides an intuitive and powerful framework for building modern web applications quickly.

SPA

A single-page application (SPA) is a web application that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current page rather than loading entire new pages from the server. The page is updated in real-time and is designed to provide a smoother, more responsive user experience.

Easy to implement complex UI functionality

Requires more upfront development time and cost

Higher development costs

On low-end devices, users may experience delays with some UI interactions

POPULAR SPA TECHNOLOGIES

React: React is one of the most popular technologies used for SPA. It is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook. React is used to create user interfaces, especially for single page applications.

Vue: Vue is another popular technology used for SPA. It is an open-source JavaScript framework created by Evan You. Vue is designed to be simple, easy to learn, and highly performant.

PWA

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are web applications that use modern web technologies to provide a user experience similar to that of a native application. PWAs are designed to be fast, reliable, and engaging.

Progressive web app architecture provides a rich, immersive experience for users, allowing them to access the application from any device with a web browser, without having to install a native application.

Easy to save to user’s phone home screen

Can be used offline

Complex to develop and maintain

POPULAR SPA TECHNOLOGIES Next.js: Next.js is a popular framework that allows developers to create progressive web apps quickly. It has built-in server-side rendering, routing and automatic code splitting.

Types of web application architectures

Now that we’ve broken down the three types of web apps, it’s time to turn to the different types of web application architecture. Apps can be architectured in a multitude of ways to suit the needs of specific business and use cases.

However, with that being said, there are three main categories of web application architecture that most apps will fall into:

We’ll start with the most basic, traditional model: monolithic architecture. This web application architecture relies on a single, unified codebase for all web application components. This means that the codebase contains all of the application’s code, including the user interface, business logic, and database access logic. Additionally, all components of the application share the same runtime environment.

The main benefits of monolithic architecture are that it simplifies development, since all the code is housed in a single location. This makes debugging and troubleshooting much easier, since all the code is in one place. Additionally, the code can be modified quickly and easily, as there is no need to update multiple components.

Monolithic architecture is not a good choice for large, complex applications that need to scale up to handle a large number of concurrent users.

Monolithic Architecture

Single codebase makes development and maintenance easier.

Low complexity due to fewer moving parts.

Easier to debug and deploy code.

Improved performance due to fewer network requests.

Difficult to scale individual components.

Not well-suited for rapid development or frequent changes.

Lack of modularity can make it difficult to reuse code.

Not designed to handle large traffic loads.

Microservices architecture is a modern, web application architecture that breaks down a large, complex application into smaller, independent services. These services communicate with each other using APIs and are independently deployable.

In a microservices web application architecture, each service is designed to perform a specific task. This helps to keep the codebase maintainable, as each service can be managed and modified independently of the other services. Services can also be deployed, scaled, and managed independently. This allows for more granular control over the application’s performance and enables developers to quickly and easily make changes.

Additionally, microservices architecture allows for faster deployment and delivery of new features, as changes can be made and deployed to individual services without affecting the entire web application. Microservices architecture is a great choice for complex web applications that demand flexibility and scalability or require the involvement of multiple, independent development teams.

Microservices Architecture

Small, focused teams that can work independently

Highly scalable and resilient

Allows for the use of different technologies for different services

Fault isolation and better resilience

Increased complexity in system design

Network problems and latency

Difficulties in developing and testing

Potential for data integrity issues due to multiple databases.

Serverless web application architecture leverages cloud-based services to deploy a web app without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. It is a way of building and running applications and services without having to think about the web servers.

With serverless web applications, the cloud provider can automatically scale the application to meet demand, removing the need to provision additional servers. It is a great choice for web apps that require quick scaling and low latency, such as web apps that need to handle large amounts of traffic

Typical use cases for serverless web application architecture include web applications that require high levels of scalability, such as e-commerce, gaming, and streaming applications. Additionally, serverless web applications are ideal for applications that require low latency, such as real-time analytics and machine learning applications.

Read more: AWS Serverless Architecture — Why does it matter?

Serverless Architecture

Low operational cost

No need for web server management

Highly scalable

Easy to deploy and maintain

Flexible event-driven architecture

Focus on code rather than infrastructure

Cold starts may cause latency

Limitations on certain types of applications

Limited support for debugging

Vendor lock-in

Potentially higher costs for high usage

We’ve looked at the various types of web applications as well as the architectures you can use to build them. But how do you choose the right one for your project? There are many factors to consider, including:

  • Main use or functionality of the app
  • Complexity of the app, including the number of screens and features
  • End users’ needs, expectations, and requirements
  • Levels and fluctuation of user traffic
  • Tolerance for ongoing maintenance and support
  • Experience and skill of your web developers
  • Development budget
  • Maintenance budget

Once you have a sense for the above factors, you can begin to thoroughly evaluate your options. Use the below chart as a guide for finding the right type of web application for your project:

Use the below chart as a guide for finding the right web application architecture for your project:

Visualizing web application architecture with diagrams

A web application architecture diagram is used to visually represent the structure of a web application, the relationship between its components, and the flow of data. This type of diagram can help teams:

  • Provide developers important high-level context for the application they will be working on.
  • Identify potential problems in the application architecture, and help in finding solutions to those problems before implementation begins.
  • Gain stakeholder alignment on the web application software development and implementation plan.

Milestones

Creating a web application architecture diagram is often the responsibility of the application architects or technical leads. But if you haven’t created one before, it can be difficult to know where to start. Let’s break it down into 5 basic steps:

1. Gather requirements: Review the existing system and understand the requirements of the web application. Consult all stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the business logic and technical limitations that the web development architecture needs to be designed within.

2. Identify components: Identify all of the web app components that will be used, taking into account both client and server sides. Make sure to include components such as web servers, cloud storage, external data storage, data access layer, and client-side UI.

3. Design the architecture: Design the architecture of the web application by drawing arrows that represent relationships between the components. Consider including visual aids such as color coding different architecture layers or adding notes to provide greater context.

4. Review and refine: Review the web application architecture diagram with stakeholders and refine it if necessary to make it more understandable or to fix any errors.

5. Finalize the diagram: Finalize the diagram by adding the name and version information of the components and other necessary details before sharing the diagram with management or client representatives.

The level of detail of your web app diagram depends on your team’s individual needs, but in general, your diagram should include the following web application architecture components:

  • User: This should notate where the user will interact with the application or the “input” of the application. Sometimes this detonated as “mobile” or “web” to show more succinctly the user and front-end together.
  • Front-end/UI: Some web architects opt to break the user and the actual front-end down in their diagrams. If you do so, use this to denote what the user sees and interacts with.
  • Database: This is where all the data is stored, such as user accounts, messages, and products.
  • Cloud storage: It’s important to note specifically if data is stored in the cloud and where it connects into the application.
  • Load balancer. If applicable, use this to notate any load balancing or distribution of traffic.
  • Firewall. Security measures like a firewall can be helpful to include in your web architecture diagram.
  • Services/business logic. You can either include this as one icon indicating a series of services or business logic, or you can list out a sample list of services to provide readers more context.
  • Servers: You may have one server or multiple servers. Either way, make sure to include them and indicate how they connect into your web application.
  • APIs: These are the tools that allow the web app to communicate with other services or databases. Note any key APIs in your diagram.

The right web application architecture can set up your web application development project for success. On the other hand, a poorly designed architecture can leave you vulnerable to security threats, limit the app’s ability to scale, and make it difficult for developers to maintain.

Understanding the different types of web applications and architectures available can help teams design the right architecture for their project. Additionally, as we’ve seen, web application architecture diagrams can be used to spot any potential problems in the architecture as well as provide developers and other stakeholders important information before implementation begins.

Use this guide as a reference for your next web app architecture project and help to ensure your project is set up for success from the very beginning!

example application diagram

Featured Visio templates and diagrams

Visio is a diagraming tool that makes it easy and intuitive to create flowcharts, diagrams, org charts, floor plans, engineering designs, and more by using modern templates with the familiar Office experience. On this page, you can access some of the top templates and sample diagrams available in Visio, or request ones that you want.

To see the hundreds of templates and sample diagrams available, you can open a template in the Visio app or in Visio for the web.

Note:  Don't have Visio yet? Compare plans and pricing or sign up for a Visio trial .

Click a category name to see the related templates and diagrams: 

Floor plans

Software and database   Azure | AWS

Engineering

Block diagram.

Computer block diagram

A block diagram template for a block diagram of a computer.

Flowchart showing a property buying process.

Property buying flow

A flowchart diagram that details the steps for buying a property.

Create flowcharts, top-down diagrams, information tracking diagrams, process planning diagrams, and structure prediction diagrams.

Basic flowchart

A vertical flowchart best used for top-down processes or systems that involve hierarchies, or have many component processes.

A cross-functional flowchart best used for a process that includes tasks shared across roles or functions.

Cross-functional flowchart

A cross-functional flowchart best used for a process that includes tasks shared across roles or functions.

Download BPMN Cross-Functional Workflow Template

BPMN cross-functional chart

Show the relationship between a process and the organizational or functional units in a HR Process flow. This is a Level 2 BPMN Workflow.

A basic diagram template for a home network.

Basic home network

Best used to design a home network with wired and wireless devices in different rooms.

Basic network template showing a small office or team's network.

Office network plan

A basic network template for a small office or team's network diagram.

Detailed network diagram template for a star network diagram.

Star network diagram

A detailed network topology for a star network diagram.

A detailed network diagram best used to show a corporate network for a medium-sized enterprise.

Detailed network

A detailed network diagram best used to show a corporate network for a medium-sized enterprise.

Download Ethernet LAN Diagram Template

Ethernet LAN diagram

Create detailed physical, logical, and network architecture diagrams using a comprehensive set of network and computer equipment shapes.

Download Floor Plan Template

Use this template to create detailed and accurate floor and building plans.

Visio template for a floor plan with social distancing.

Social-distancing floor plan, U.S.

Floor plan with social distancing features (U.S.)

Social-distancing floor plan, Metric

Floor plan with social distancing features (Metric)

Software and database

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the software development lifecycle process.

SDLC waterfall process

A process diagram for a waterfall process model of a software development life cycle.

Best used to show a system in which a class has composition and aggregation relationships

UML class with interface

UML class diagram best used to show a system in which a class has composition and aggregation relationships

Best used to show how parts of a simple system interact with each other

Basic UML sequence

A basic UML sequence diagram best used to show how parts of a simple system interact with each other

Best used to show a user's interactions with events and processes.

Basic UML use case

A basic UML use case diagram best used to show a user's interactions with events and processes.

UML communication diagram that shows the interactions between lifelines that use sequenced messages.

Basic UML communication

UML communication diagram that shows the interactions between lifelines that use sequenced messages.

UML component diagram.

Basic UML component

UML component diagram to show components, ports, interfaces and the relationships between them

UML diagram to show login-registry activity.

Login-registry activity

Use this UML diagram to show login-registry activity.

UML architecture diagram of a software deployment.

Basic UML deployment

Use this diagram to show the architecture of a software deployment.

UML state diagram that shows how an automated teller machine responds to a user.

UML state: ATM

Use this diagram to design a state diagram that shows how an automated teller machine responds to a user.

UML component diagram for an employee database.

UML database for employees

Use this diagram to design an employee database for an organization.

Chen's database diagram of a bank account.

Bank Account database

Chen's database diagram of a bank account

Jenkins Server on Azure.

Jenkins Server on Azure

On-premises Active Directory domains with Azure AD.

On-prem AD domains with Azure AD

Integrating On-premises Active Directory domains with Azure AD

Dev-Test deployment for a PaaS solution.

Dev-Test deployment for PaaS

A dev-test deployment for testing PaaS solutions

Template for AWS: Chef Automate Architecture

Chef Automate Architecture on AWS

AWS template: Chef Automate Architecture

Template for AWS: Git to S3 Webhooks

Git to S3 Webhooks

AWS template: Git to S3 Webhooks

Template for AWS: SAP using SIOS

AWS template: SAP using SIOS

A diagram template for an expanded block timeline

Expanded block timeline

Best used to track milestones, events, tasks, and phases over a period of time. Also used to create Product Roadmaps.

Organizational chart best used to show hierarchy levels and reporting relationships, in an attractive, modern format.

Organizational chart

Organizational chart best used to show hierarchy levels and reporting relationships, in an attractive, modern format.

Download Hierarchical Organization ChartTemplate

Hierarchical organization chart

Create an organization chart with a multi-level hierarchy. Try different layouts that fit your diagram into a printable space.

Create auditing diagrams for accounting, financial management, fiscal information tracking, money management, decision flowcharts, and financial inventories.

Basic auditing

A basic auditing diagram best used for a simple process that must satisfy a decision point to complete.

Cross-functional flowchart showing a credit approval process.

Credit approval process

A cross-functional flowchart for a credit approval process.

Crow's foot diagram of a Human Resources management system.

HR Management System

Crow's foot diagram of a Human Resources management system.

Crow's foot diagram of an Inventory management system.

Inventory management

Crow's foot diagram of an Inventory management system.

Chen's diagram of a Construction management organization.

Construction management

Chen's diagram of a Construction management organization.

Flowchart that shows ticket-purchasing process for theater customers.

Theater booking process

This flowchart template shows the steps for purchasing theater tickets from an online service and how different actions affect the user's Web experience.

Marketing strategies template.

Marketing mix

A diagram template that can be used to create marketing strategies that influence customers to purchase a company's products.

Create schematic, one-line, and wiring diagrams and blueprints. Contains shapes for switches, relays, transmission paths, semiconductors, circuit, and tubes.

Basic electrical

A basic engineering electrical diagram best used to draw an electronic circuit that can include semiconductor devices.

A SDL diagram template for a SDL game process.

SDL game process

A Specification and Description Language diagram template for an SDL game process.

Display languages supported in the Visio desktop app

This page lists all the templates and sample diagrams available with Visio in Microsoft 365. For each category, there is a button you can click that opens the template or sample with its stencils and shapes—right in Visio so that you can get started trying it out.

Click a category name to go to a list of related templates and samples:

Basic diagrams

Block diagrams.

Business Matrix diagrams

Cycle diagrams

Process diagrams, pyramid diagrams, venn diagrams.

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Basic Diagram Template

Contains basic geometric shapes, arrow shapes, decorative and graph shapes for making a general diagram.

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Financial Ratios

Looks at five elements: liquidity, working capital, asset usage, efficiency, and profitability ratios.

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Hub and Spoke Model

Illustrates the distribution model based on a hub with supporting regional distribution nodes. 

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Marketing Mix

Illustrates multiple aspects of a marketing program centered on the target market. 

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Product Development

Illustrates a five-phase model of development: strategy, design, development, testing, and support.

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Sales Funnel

Funnel diagram illustrated with icons and callouts.

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Recruitment Process

Illustrates four steps in an organization's recruitment process for a job opening.

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PESTLE Analysis

Analyze a business or an industry on six factors: political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental.

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Business Model Canvas

Map out the nine major components of your business. This canvas gives a bird’s eye view of your entire business and is useful for strategizing. 

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5 Why's, diagram 1

"Five why's analysis" is an iterative technique for root-cause analysis. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the 4 P's of marketing.

4 P's Marketing Mix

Convey a marketing strategy by identifying four essential factors that are necessary for marketing the good or service.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about value chain analysis, which examines every production step required to create a product.

Value Chain

Visualize all activities that a company undertakes to deliver a good or service to market.

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Strategy Diamond

Concisely illustrates an organization’s overall strategy, highlighting five key components. It can be used as a checklist for a healthy strategy.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about "Porter's Five Forces," a tool for understanding the competitiveness of your business environment.

Porter's Five Forces, diagram 1

Analyze an industry’s attractiveness, or evaluate a company’s competitive environment.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about "Porter's Five Forces," a tool for understanding the competitiveness of your business environment.

Porter's Five Forces, diagram 2

Analyze an industry’s attractiveness or evaluate a company’s competitive environment.

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5 Why's, diagram 2

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the "five why's" root cause analysis tool.

5 Why's, diagram 3

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the "five why's" root cause analysis tool.

5 Why's, diagram 4

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Block diagrams.

Block Diagram Template

Contains 2-D and 3-D shapes and directional lines for feedback loops and annotated functional decomposition, data structure, hierarchical, signal flow, and data flow block diagrams.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Block Diagram of a Computer.

Block Diagram of a Computer

This diagram can be used to illustrate elements of a computer system.

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Content Marketing Strategy Block Diagram

Manage your content through multiple stages.

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Integrated Marketing Strategy Block Diagram

Helps align and coordinate marketing channels and assets in a coherent strategy.

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IOT Security Architecture Block

Layers of security analysis.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Porter's Analysis Block Diagram.

Porter's Analysis Block Diagram

Identifies an industry's structure to determine a corporate strategy.

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Flow of a Research Paper 

Blocks and connectors show the process of writing a research paper.

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Periodic Table

Color-coded 3D blocks represent elements from the modern periodic table.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file illustrating the Periodic Table of Elements with a sci-fi visual theme.

Sci-Fi Periodic Table

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Windows NT Architecture

Illustrates all layers in the Windows NT architecture.

Business Matrix

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Business Matrix diagrams.

Business Matrix Template

Contains business matrix diagrams that shows relationships between concepts across two or more dimensions. Create 2x2, 3x3 matrix, SWOT analysis, Ansoff matrix, BCG matrix, position maps, Quadrant analysis diagrams, or illustrate concepts across axes.

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Contains a growth-share matrix to help an organization analyze its business units. Also known as "product portfolio matrix".

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Ansoff Matrix

Contains a marketing planning tool which usually aids a business in determining its product and market growth. 

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SWOT 1 Analysis

One of four sample diagrams that allows a business to undertake an analysis to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.

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SWOT 2 Analysis

The second of four sample diagrams that allows a business to undertake an analysis to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.

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SWOT 3 Analysis

The third of four sample diagrams that allows a business to undertake an analysis to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.

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SWOT 4 Analysis

The fourth of four sample diagrams that allows a business to undertake an analysis to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Cycle diagrams.

Cycle Diagram Template

Represents a sequence of stages, tasks, or events in a circular flow. Contains circular, radial, target, circular segments, pie segments, loops and other cyclic diagram shapes.

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Product Lifecycle

Covers four stages in the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

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Deming Cycle

The Deming Cycle is a model for continuous improvement of quality in four stages.

Visio diagram about the water cycle concept map.

Water Cycle Concept Map

Shows the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-atmosphere system.

Visio diagram about the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle.

Plan, Do, Check, Act

An interactive problem-solving strategy for improving processes and implementing change.

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Customer Lifecycle

Illustrates the stages of customer lifecycle management.

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Business Account Management

Illustrates eight key elements of a business account.

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Digital Media: getting customers

Stages of customer acquisition—from communication to conversion.

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Flowchart diagrams.

Flowchart Template

Create flowcharts, top-down diagrams, information tracking diagrams, process planning diagrams, and structure prediction diagrams. Contains connectors and links.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Purchase Order.

Purchase Order

Demonstrates a purchase-order flow for a product.

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Medical Patient Process

Flowchart illustrating the process of admitting a person for medical care. 

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Environmental Clearance Flowchart

Flowchart illustrating the evaluation process for mitigating an environmental issue. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Theater booking process.

Theater Booking Process

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Property Buying Flowchart

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Vertical Flowchart

Basic flowchart oriented vertically. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about HR Management Process.

Human Resources Management Process

Full process for seeking job candidates (internal and external) for an open position.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Customer Support.

Customer Support

Illustrates the workflow for a customer support team working to solve a customer problem.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the audit process.

Audit Process flowchart

Demonstrates an end-to-end audit-process flow.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about doing a background check on a job candidate.

Candidate Background Check

Describes the entire process of performing background checks for job candidates.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about doing hardware and software development.

Hardware and Software Development

Describes the flow of the hardware or software development process.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about materials inspection.

Inspect Materials flowchart

Shows how material inspection process flows.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the process flow of medical assistance.

Medical Assistance flowchart

Describes the process of getting medical assistance in a hospital.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about scheduling classes for teachers.

Teaching Structure Flowchart

Demonstrates a flowchart for scheduling a teacher's class schedule.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about doing a sales quote.

Sales Quote diagram

Flowchart that describes the sales quote process.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the business-to-business sales process.

Business-to-Business Sales

Flowchart showing the process of pitching an idea to a client in business-to-business sales.

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Online Shopping Process

Flowchart shapes and connectors show the process of ordering a product on an e-commerce website.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about prototyping software.

Software Design Algorithm

Flowchart shapes and connectors demonstrating how to prototype a software project.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about documenting the scene of an accident.

Accident Scene Assessment

Flowchart demonstrating the steps in assessing an accident scene.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the financial management process.

Project Finance Management

Flowchart showing the process of managing the finances of a project.

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Process diagrams.

Process Steps Template

Shapes for illustrating the steps in any sequential process. 

SDLC Waterfall Process

The waterfall model illustrates the software development process in a linear sequential flow.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Tuckman's Model.

Tuckman's Model

The Tuckman model is an approach to team development that helps develop strategies to move toward its goals.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about 5-Step Decision Making Process.

Five-Step Decision Making Process

Illustration of fundamental steps in the decision-making process.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file showing an organizational communication plan.

Organizational Communication Plan

Covers aspects of a communication plan: audience, type of message, delivery method, schedule, and spokesperson.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Job Application Process.

Job Application Process

Process diagram illustrating the steps for a job applicant and hiring process.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the process of making a sports jersey.

Jersey-making Process

Process diagram that shows how a sports jersey is made, in 8 steps.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about baking a cake.

Let's Bake a Cake

Shows the process of baking a cake, including the ingredients and various stages of mixing, baking, and decoration—illustrated as a cake.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file illustrating a cardio/core workout.

Cardio and Core Workout

Covers a 30-minutes workout set of cardio and core exercises.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file illustrating the pizza delivery process.

Pizza Delivery Process 

Shows the delivery process from the store to the customer—illustrated in the shape of a pizza.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about the process of caring for a surgical patient.

Patient Care Process

Shows the process involved in patient care, from diagnosis to post-surgery evaluation.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about steps in the process of securing a home loan.

Milestones to home ownership 

Shows the steps and milestones involved in buying a house with a home loan.

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Pyramid diagrams.

Pyramid Diagram Template

Pyramid diagrams use triangular, pyramidal or conical shapes to show proportional, interconnected, hierarchical relationships.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Marketing Diagram.

Marketing Strategy Diagram

A sample pyramid diagram that represents aspects of a business marketing strategy. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Funnel Diagram.

Funnel Diagram

Funnel diagrams can be used to represent different stages of a process and to identify potential problem areas.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Hierarchy of Needs Diagram.

Hierarchy of Needs Diagram

A sample pyramid diagram that represents Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Website Visitor Trend.

Website Visitor Trend

An example of a pyramid diagram. This one shows data about categories of visitors to a web site. 

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Segmented Pyramid.

Segmented Pyramid

A segmented pyramid diagram can show proportional, interconnected or containment relationships.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Stepped Pyramid Diagram.

Stepped Pyramid Diagram

Pyramid diagrams can be used to present a step-by-step progression or to break down the structure of something into meaningful parts.

Thumbnail image of Visio template for Venn diagrams.

Venn Diagram Template

Venn diagrams use overlapping shapes to depict possible logical relationships between two or more sets. Organize information, show associations, similarities, unions, intersections, differences, containments, complements across logical sets.

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What is Data Science?

Venn diagram describing data science as an intersection of technology, statistics, and business.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Desirability Feasibility Viability.

Desirability Feasibility Viability

This framework attempts to balance what is desirable from a customer point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about People, Process and technology.

People, Process, and Technology

Illustrates three elements of organizational transformation.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about The disciplines of User Experience design.

The disciplines of User Experience design

Illustrates the inter-relationships of the many elements of user experience design.

Thumbnail image for Visio sample file about Venn Diagram Template.

Brand Effectiveness diagram

Five factors for measuring brand effectiveness.

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  • Activity Diagram (UML)
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Android Mockups
  • Block Diagram
  • Business Process Management
  • Chemical Chart
  • Cisco Network Diagram
  • Class Diagram (UML)
  • Collaboration Diagram (UML)
  • Compare & Contrast Diagram
  • Component Diagram (UML)
  • Concept Diagram
  • Cycle Diagram
  • Data Flow Diagram
  • Data Flow Diagrams (YC)
  • Database Diagram
  • Deployment Diagram (UML)
  • Entity Relationship Diagram
  • Family Tree
  • Fishbone / Ishikawa Diagram
  • Gantt Chart
  • Infographics
  • iOS Mockups
  • Network Diagram
  • Object Diagram (UML)
  • Object Process Model
  • Organizational Chart
  • Sequence Diagram (UML)
  • Spider Diagram
  • State Chart Diagram (UML)
  • Story Board
  • SWOT Diagram
  • TQM - Total Quality Management
  • Use Case Diagram (UML)
  • Value Stream Mapping
  • Venn Diagram
  • Web Mockups
  • Work Breakdown Structure

Application Architecture Example

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This article explains an example of application architecture and how it is used in software development. An application architecture is a set of rules and models used to guide software design, as well as the connections between them. It defines the organization of software, its interaction with external systems, as well as its internal processes. This example includes the five core components of an application architecture: the database, the application, the web server, the user interface, and the business logic. With this architecture in place, software engineers can create the necessary software components and processes required for efficient software development.

You can easily edit this template using Creately. You can export it in multiple formats like JPEG, PNG and SVG and easily add it to Word documents, Powerpoint (PPT) presentations, Excel or any other documents. You can export it as a PDF for high-quality printouts.

  • Flowchart Templates
  • Org Chart Templates
  • Concept Map Templates
  • Genogram Templates
  • WBS Templates
  • Family Tree Templates
  • Mind Mapping Templates
  • Fishbone / Ishikawa Diagram Templates
  • SWOT Analysis Templates
  • Venn Diagram Templates
  • Network Diagram Templates
  • Use Case Templates
  • Wireframe Templates
  • Activity Diagram
  • Class Diagram
  • Collaboration Diagram
  • Component Diagram
  • Data Flow Diagrams(YC)
  • Deployment Diagram
  • Object Diagram
  • Sequence Diagram
  • State Chart Diagram
  • Use Case Diagram
  • Site Map Templates

Related Templates

Cloud Backup Diagram Example

Example draw.io diagrams and templates

You can create a wide variety of diagrams for many different industries using draw.io with our extensive template library and vast shape libraries.

  • Open a diagram: Click on a diagram image on this page to enlarge it in our online app.diagrams.net viewer. Click on the pencil in the viewer toolbar to open it in the editor.
  • Learn more about that diagram type: Click on the diagram type link below each image to view a related blog post.
  • Download: Right-click on the Download link and save the .drawio diagram file from our Github repository to your device.

Diagram types

All these diagrams were created using draw.io - start diagramming now with our free diagram editor

Where noted, template diagrams are available in the built-in template library ( Arrange > Insert > Template ).

Use this table of contents to jump to the diagram type you are interested in.

UML diagrams

Mockups and wireframes, rack and cabinet diagrams, tree diagrams and org charts, mindmaps and concept maps, circuit and logic diagrams, ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams, swimlane diagrams and cross-functional flowcharts, bpmn diagrams, pert and gantt charts, timelines and roadmaps, infographics, venn diagrams, science and educational illustrations, software development.

An example gitflow diagram

IT and infrastructure diagrams

An example AWS architecture diagram created in draw.io

Industry and engineering

Enterprise business model template

Tip: These are typically used when conducting a root cause analysis.

An example of an manufacturing Ishikawa diagram for a defective part

Business and marketing

Enterprise business model template

Guide to Web Application Architecture

  • Custom Software Development
  • Guide to Web...

Components of Web Application Architecture

Web application architecture diagram, what is a 3-tier architecture, modern web application architecture layers, types of web application architecture, advanced & scalable web application architecture, web application architecture best practices.

The web application market is an environment that is continuously evolving, incorporating new technologies and increasing safety standards.

In this regard, the proper attention to the foundational design of a web app contributes to maintaining the required robustness, responsiveness, and security of this software. In a web app, this is what solid web app architecture is responsible for.

Infographic of global web application market statistics

The definition of web app architecture is broad and depends on the focus of building web applications.

A web application architecture is a model of interaction between web application components. The specific kind of architecture for web applications strictly depends on the way application logic will be allocated among client and server sides.

Technically, it’s the skeleton of a web app, including its elements, databases, systems, servers, interfaces, and all the communication happening between them. In more abstract terms, it indicates the logic behind responses to client and server requests.

When it comes to business benefits, web application architecture is related to the process of creating web applications and planning for their needs in terms of speed, scalability, security, and other quality attributes.

This article will provide an overview of modern web application architecture , including its key components, types, and models, so that you can invest in this type of architecture with confidence. Let’s get started!

The applications differ in complexity and functionality, and the number of layers and components changes accordingly. It may happen that an app is so simple that it works as a monolith, storing all the web application design architecture in one place.

Nevertheless, a typical web app will consist of multiple components (or tiers) that interact with each other. Usually, the two major groups for web application architecture are user interface and structural web components. In their turn, structural web components include client-side components and server-side components.

When too many components are involved, their descriptions may not be enough to clarify the whole picture. A web application architecture diagram can help in this situation by presenting a schematic illustration of components and interactions between them. Now, let’s take a closer look at the key elements depicted on this diagram.

Illustration of a web application architecture diagram

The abbreviation DNS stands for the domain name system. It’s a key element that matches IP addresses to domain names. In this way, a particular server receives a request sent by an end user.

2. Load Balancer

It directs incoming requests from app users to one of the multiple servers, which distributes load more evenly when too many users are active at the same time. Generally, web app services exist as various copies mirroring one another to enable all servers to process requests in the same manner. Also, the load balancer is an element that distributes tasks in order to prevent them from overcharging.

3. Web App Servers

This component is basically an app deployment descriptor. What does it mean? It means that it processes the user's requests and sends responses back to an initial browser. To make it happen, it refers to the back-end infrastructure, including the database, job queue, cache server, etc.

4. Database

The meaning of this component is pretty much straightforward. It offers a wide variety of instruments to perform, delete, organize, and update data entries. Mainly, web app servers interact with job servers without any intermediary.

5. Caching Service

The component grants easy and quick data storage and search. When the user receives the info from the server, search results can be cached. As a result, future requests will be returned much faster.

These are the scenarios when caching is efficient:

  • Slow or repeated computation
  • When a user receives similar results for a specific request

6. Job Queue (Optional)

This one has two components in it, which are a job queue and servers that process those jobs. Many web servers operate a large number of jobs of minor importance. A job that has to be fulfilled goes in the queue and will be operated according to the schedule.

7. Full-Text Search Service (Optional)

There are plenty of web apps that support search by text feature. After this, an application sends the relevant results to an end user. The whole process is called a full-text search, and it can find the requested data by a keyword among all the documents available in a system.

The abbreviation CDN stands for the content delivery system. This system sends static content, including images and other files. Basically, it includes multiple servers that are closer to the geographical locations of end users than an app’s database. As a result, CDN delivers content more effectively to users around the globe, drastically reducing load times.

The majority of web apps are created through the separation of their principal function into layers/tiers. Respectively, this enables you to quickly and effortlessly replace or upgrade those layers independently. It is called a multi- or a 3-tier architecture .

In a 3-tier web architecture, there are three layers/tiers:

  • Presentation (client) layer
  • Application (business) layer
  • Data access layer

It’s possible to say that this modern web app architecture is the safest and most secure one. It can be explained by the fact that the client doesn’t access the data directly. Application servers can be deployed on multiple machine providers, which enables higher scalability, increased performance, and better efficiency.

Each tier can be scaled independently; therefore, this architecture can be scaled horizontally. In addition, it also significantly improves the overall data integrity as data will go through the app server, which is the one that decides exactly how and by whom data will be accessed. This amazing perk is an easy and cost-effective solution in case of new company management.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each of the three web application architecture layers .

Presentation/Client Layer

When we are talking about the presentation layer, we imply the front end of an app. This layer includes such elements as static content and dynamic interface that are visible to end users. The environment of this layer is any browser. Among the technologies that are used in this case, we can name HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. The potential frameworks to choose from include Angular, React, and Vue.

Business/Application Layer

Speaking of the business layer, which is also referred to as the application layer , is a part of the app back-end. The web app’s back-end determines business logic and responses to browser requests that are sent to the presentation layer. It consists of the core application logic and outlines all internal flow for data and requests. In this case, the most convenient environment is servers, serverless cloud platforms, or PaaS. Among the programming languages that are used in this case, we can name C#, JavaScript, Java, Python, and PHP. The potential back-end frameworks to choose from include ASP.NET, express.js, nest.js, Spring, Flask, Django, and Symfony.

Data Access Layer

The final layer in this architecture is the data access layer , which plays a crucial role by closely interfacing with the business layer, retrieving essential information from the servers. Simultaneously, the data service layer acts as an intermediary, effectively segregating the business logic from the client side during request processing.

It is an app back-end part that contains databases and DBMS (database management systems) that collect, manage and store data. The environment can be the same as the application layer. Among the Database management systems, we can name PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, Cloud Offerings and so on.

All the layers work independently and communicate with each other through the relevant components.

A web application architecture type is a particular pattern under which the components interact with each other. The overarching layers might be divided into a client side architecture, server side architecture, and a hosting approach.

Client Side

Single-page application architecture.

This web application architecture is designed to show relevant content only. To make this happen, it first loads the relevant web page and then dynamically updates the representation of its content with the requested information only.

In other words, it doesn’t refer to the server for loading new pages but sends requests for the needed parts of the webpage only.

Single-Page Applications contribute to smoother performance and a more intuitive user experience.

Pros of single-page app architecture:

  • Faster performance
  • Improved flexibility of UX

Cons of single-page app architecture:

  • Increased testing time
  • Possible loss of unsaved progress
  • Slower first-load speed

Progressive Web Apps

Progressive web apps are still among the most promising web app trends thanks to their unique format. They offer a convenient and effective user experience available from any browser and device through a shared URL.

The application of progressive web apps is wide, including industries like entertainment, finance, and eCommerce. Their key benefits include lightweight, cost-effectiveness, cross-device nature, ability to attract web traffic, and a fully functioning app experience.

Pros of progressive web app architecture:

  • Browser availability
  • Mobile-first approach
  • Increased traffic
  • Effective offline performance

Cons of progressive web app architecture:

  • Restricted browser support
  • Narrow utilization of native APIs.

Server Side

Microservice architecture.

Microservices are the frequent alternative to an unreliable monolithic web application architecture . They disperse the functionality to deliver small and lightweight services separately.

In particular, they are loosely coupled and use APIs for communication if a sophisticated business problem arises. This peculiarity eases the developer’s life since it’s possible for individual service components to be built in different programming languages.

Thanks to its flexibility and stability, microservice architecture has gained popularity these days, with businesses like Amazon, eBay, and Netflix adopting it for their complex needs.

Pros of microservice architecture:

  • Easier scaling up
  • Better fault tolerance
  • Simple-to-understand code base
  • Independent module deployment

Cons of microservice architecture:

  • Difficulties with testing and debugging
  • Complex deployment

Hosting Approach

Serverless architecture.

In web application development, this architecture type, you outsource both server and infrastructure management to a third-party cloud service provider. This way, a web app logic execution won’t intervene in the infrastructure running.

Choosing a serverless architecture is good for companies that want to delegate server and hardware management to a reliable tech partner and concentrate on front-end development tasks instead.

Also, this web application architecture type allows working on small functions in apps. The service providers that assist in server management are Amazon and Microsoft, among others.

Pros of serverless architecture:

  • Absence of server management
  • Highly scalable
  • Minimized latency
  • Speed and flexibility

Cons of serverless architecture:

  • Security concerns
  • High complexity

Digital technologies constantly evolve, creating new possibilities for web applications. As a result, their architecture also evolves to accommodate software to new demands and conditions in business. These days, the challenges in various industries require appropriate actions and implemented measures from software developers. Let’s see what business requirements have the largest impact on software development and how specialists can ensure the necessary characteristics of web applications using new trends and a properly designed architecture. 

Three of the most demanded characteristics of web applications nowadays are improved scalability, reliability, and security. Business needs to be sure that custom software is reliable and won’t fail under load or malicious actions. To satisfy these requirements, developers continually enhance software architecture by implementing more advanced technologies and higher standards.

Today, most requirements regarding the scalability and safety of web applications are met with the help of cloud technologies. Web developers extensively use them for two main purposes: advanced storage and delivery of content and smart balancing of traffic load.

Cloud solutions are the most obvious and optimal choice of technologies for the architecture of most business web applications. That’s why a lot of web developers effectively use a wide range of cloud services provided by such IT giants as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Today, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform are essential tools that can be customized for all types of web applications. Here are a few examples of uses and benefits associated with cloud services implementation in web app architecture .

Data Storage Tools

  • Azure Cloud Storage
  • Google Cloud Storage

Storing web app information in the cloud instead of an on-premise server makes data more accessible regardless of users’ location. Most cloud service providers offer several subscription plans with various volume and traffic load capacities. They ensure that your information is kept safe and secure, which is an invaluable advantage for business.

Cloud storage also allows developers to optimize access time for users in target geographic areas. This way, customers or employees using a web application will experience fewer lags. After a web application is released, developers can add new cloud storage units or remove existing ones and change the service subscription plan. This significantly improves scalability and optimizes app costs depending on the scale of the business.

Load Balancing Tools

  • AWS Elastic Load Balancing
  • Azure Load Balancer
  • Google Cloud Load Balancing

Load balancers ensure the smooth work of a web application even at times of high traffic loads. This type of technology is especially useful for B2C or retail businesses. Usually, such high load periods are predicted and happen on a regular basis, for example, during holiday seasons. However, sometimes, they occur as a result of malicious attacks intended to disrupt the online operations of a particular company. The most common type is DDoS attacks which can have a devastating impact on any online business. Load balancing technologies help to distribute excess loads across multiple servers using hardware or software components and predefined policies.

Caching and Content Delivery Tools

  • Amazon CloudFront
  • Google Cloud CDN and Media CDN

Software developers may implement a caching system in application architecture to optimize data access and improve app performance. Usually, an app cache contains the most frequently or recently requested information. It delivers data to a user device much faster than requesting the same information from a database on an application server. 

Depending on the architecture, a web application may have a global cache, a distributed cache, or an in-memory cache. Another widely used technology to handle caching is a content delivery network (CDN). It allows developers to reduce load on an application server by rerouting queries to a CDN server instead.

Here, we’ve gathered the top 5 recommendations for business owners to consider while working on web app architecture for their projects and building cooperation with tech partners.

1. Think of a proper web application architecture at the earliest stages

Without a comprehensive structure, your application will turn into a labyrinth of messy elements and components that are too hard to handle.

2. Don’t copy somebody’s success

The top mistake is to pick a web application architecture of a successful company and simply replicate it. In reality, a successful architecture is one that corresponds with your business goals and ideas, not theirs.

3. Pay attention to your technical limitations

It’s not always possible to get the best and most successful elements in your web application architecture. However, with the proper attention to quality attributes and realistic business expectations, you will get the maximum from all the components you have.

4. Eliminate the problems right away

Don’t wait for the web app release to fix the problems in its architecture. The earlier you address the issues, the more reliable core features it will have.

5. Create a checklist of successful web app features

To make sure your web app has achieved its goal, it’s good practice to note your expectations from it at the very beginning and discuss their possibility and measurable KPIs with your tech partner.

The possible checklist may include these features:

  • Overall system flexibility
  • Components can be reused
  • Well-written code
  • Ability to scale
  • System stability
  • Easy bug detection
  • Sticking to security standards
  • Fields to work with user feedback
  • Easy-to-use
  • Responds fast
  • Can be deployed automatically

A solid, fast-working, scalable, and safe web application architecture is a must for every web platform-based digital product, especially when it comes to business. For this reason, the architecture must always be developed and implemented by software engineering experts with experience in creating similar solutions for your specific industry.

Intellectsoft is a company that has been creating digital solutions for companies of all sizes in Fintech, Healthcare, construction, hospitality, logistics, eCommerce, and many other industries for over 15 years. We provide web development services to startups, SMBs, and enterprises across the world and create solutions with the most efficient, safe, and flexible web app architecture .

So, if you’re looking for a development team that will ensure top-quality modern web application architecture , here are only a few reasons to choose our software engineering experts:

  • Our talent pool covers dozens of programming tools and technologies for building web, mobile, desktop, cloud, and other solutions.
  • We have successfully finished and delivered over 600 digital solutions for businesses. Here, you can see our most prominent cases .
  • Our engineering workforce is located in 21 countries across the Atlantic.
  • The size of our clients varies from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises like Audi, Harley Davidson, Universal, Nestle, Melco, and others.

In case you want to know what custom web application architecture solution we can create and provide for your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and tell us what you need. Our team will make sure your product gets its perfect modern web app architecture .

What web app architecture will fit my needs?

First of all, it’s essential to define your business goals and objectives. Once you do this, it will be so much easier to decide on what specific type of web application architecture you should opt for. However, if after reading our detailed guide, you still don’t know which type to choose, then we recommend you contact our professional team. We will gladly evaluate your project and suggest the most relevant solution in your particular case. In addition, we will be able to provide you with the approximate costs for selecting and creating web application architecture delivered by Intellectsoft.

What are the reasons to treat a web application system architecture seriously?

There are multiple benefits of a web application architecture that should motivate you to treat it really seriously. First of all, it enables very simple and fast integration of new features into your application. In addition, web architecture has high flexibility and scalability, which is also very beneficial for your project. Moreover, working with the right web application architecture will decrease the time spent on web development. It also goes without saying that this solution is very cost-effective and will grant you exceptional safety.

What are the most popular models of web app architecture?

There are three popular models of architecture used in modern web applications.

The “one server, one database” model is rather primitive and does not meet the requirements of modern web software. However, its simplicity allows developers to use it for pre-release testing or for building an MVP. In real-life applications, this model does not ensure the appropriate level of safety and stability because if a server goes down, an app will stop working as well.

The “multiple servers, one database” model is faster and more effective due to its partially distributed nature. The presence of several servers enables the possibility of load balancing, which allows using the full potential of multiple app servers. However, the single database is a potential vulnerability that impacts the safety of a web application.

The “multiple servers, multiple databases” model is the most efficient but also the most expensive in terms of deployment and maintenance. Developers must implement effective means to synchronize information within several databases. Like the previous model, this one may also use the benefits of load balancing.

What are the business advantages of a well-planned web architecture?

For many online retail companies, a custom web application is the only way to showcase goods, take orders, and communicate with customers. A properly designed and implemented architecture ensures that app users can perform all intended activities regardless of their location, current traffic load, or other factors impacting the app’s performance.

Let’s take, for example, a 3-tier web architecture in the context of a retail business app. The presentation layer displays information using a graphical user interface. This way, a customer can interact with the app: browse products, compare or add them to the cart, and so on. The business layer is the core of an application that determines its functionality. It processes the information gathered during the user interaction and acts as a medium between the presentation layer and the data layer. Finally, the data access layer or simply data layer stores and manages information, including product descriptions, availability, price, and more. This layer also includes customer-related information which usually contains delivery addresses, saved payment options, and other personal data. Considering potential financial and reputational losses, database security is extremely important and should be considered a top priority.

Software developers must ensure the efficient and reliable operation of all these layers using carefully chosen technologies and a well-implemented architecture of a web application. First of all, a convenient and fast app improves customer satisfaction which leads to more profits and higher client retention. It also helps businesses to remain online and functional even during periods of heavy loads, preventing crashes and other failures. Last but not least, a carefully designed architecture is essential for the security of a web application, which is a crucial factor for business owners and their clients alike.

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PW Skills | Blog

Architecture of Web Applications: Types, Diagram, Example, Architecture in Java

Understanding the architecture of web applications is crucial if you want to become a highly successful web developer. So, learn everything you need to know about web application architecture here!

Architecture of Web Applications: Web applications seamlessly blend technology and user experience. Web app architecture invisibly coordinates servers, databases, and client devices, forming a seamless backbone.

Full Stack Development

This complex connection includes various elements like front-end frameworks, back-end languages, and databases, all collaborating to provide a dynamic and responsive user interface. The architecture guides data and functionality flow from the client’s browser to the server’s databases, shaping the core of user interaction.

In this blog, we’ll talk about the architecture of web applications, its types, diagrams, examples, and more!

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Table of Contents

Web Application Architecture Diagram

In a typical web application architecture, the system comprises several layers that work together to deliver a seamless user experience. The following is a textual representation of a web application architecture:

  • User Interface (UI):
  • The front-end layer where users interact with the application.
  • Built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Responsive design for optimal user experience across devices.
  • Presentation Layer:
  • Handles the logic related to the presentation and user interface.
  • Includes front-end frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js.
  • Responsible for rendering data received from the server.
  • Application Logic Layer:
  • Manages the core functionality of the application.
  • Utilises back-end frameworks like Node.js, Django, or Ruby on Rails.
  • Processes requests from the presentation layer and communicates with the database.
  • Web Server:
  • Acts as an intermediary between the front-end and back-end.
  • Responds to HTTP requests from the client and routes them to the appropriate components.
  • API (Application Programming Interface):
  • Defines how different software components should interact.
  • RESTful or GraphQL APIs are common for communication between the front-end and back-end.
  • Business Logic Layer:
  • Implements the business rules and logic of the application.
  • Validates and processes data before storing it in the database.
  • Stores and manages the application’s data.
  • Relational databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL, or NoSQL databases like MongoDB are commonly used.
  • Data Storage:
  • Includes file storage systems or cloud storage for storing user uploads, media files, etc.
  • Authentication and Authorization:
  • Manages user identity and access control.
  • Ensures secure user authentication and authorization to access specific resources.
  • Security Layer:
  • Implements security measures to protect against common web application vulnerabilities.
  • Includes encryption, input validation, and other security protocols.

Also Read: What is AngularJS? A Complete Guide for Beginners to Master in 2024

Web Application Architecture Example

A common web application architecture includes a User Interface (UI) layer for user interaction, a Presentation layer for rendering content, an Application Logic layer for core functionality, and a Web Server handling client requests. The API facilitates communication with a Business Logic layer, managing rules and data processing .

Data is stored in a Database, with additional layers for Data Storage, Authentication, and Security. This orchestrated structure, often utilising front-end and back-end frameworks, ensures seamless user experiences by efficiently processing requests, managing data securely, and separating concerns for scalability and maintainability.

Architecture of Web Application in Java

The structure of an application explains how its parts are linked and how they talk to each other. It can also be explained as the link between the user and server that outlines the connection, along with the server managing the communication between the user and server.

Web applications are built with an architecture that outlines how components are connected. The web application architecture decides how the client and server communicate with each other.

Various sizes and complexities of web applications adhere to a common architectural structure, yet their specifics are distinct. Apart from understanding the functioning of a request-response process and its components, we will also explore the mechanics of a basic request-response cycle.

What is Web Architecture?

Web architecture involves the creation and implementation of an internet-based computer program. Frequently, these programs take the form of websites that provide valuable information to users, and web developers may design them for a specific purpose, company, or brand.

Web architecture includes all aspects of an application and aids web developers in crafting designs that improve a user’s experience. Ideally, the finished project enables users to effortlessly access information and comprehend how to navigate through its content.

Though there exist various methods, tactics, and patterns for web application architecture, the process typically impacts these components:

What are the 3 types of Web Architecture?

There are various types of web architecture. However, here are 3 of the most common types of web architecture:

  • Design: This pertains to how the program looks visually to a user.
  • IT infrastructure: This aspect of a web architecture program involves coding and software development used in creating a program.
  • User experience: In addition to design elements, web architecture concepts enable developers to implement other program functions that appeal to a user, such as simple language or easy navigation.
  • Software: Effective web architecture often includes the development of robust software to support the functions of a program or application.
  • Monetization: This involves the ability to generate revenue from a web program, which developers incorporate into the foundational architecture of a program.
  • Efficiency: The methods employed to create a program directly impact its efficiency—both in its design and at a software level.
  • Reliability: This refers to the trustworthiness and consistency of a web application when a user tries to access it. Prioritising this component can help developers avoid technical glitches and other issues that may arise on a user’s end.
  • Scalability: During the design phase, it’s crucial for web developers to consider the potential need to expand the size and reach of the program.
  • Security: This relates to the level of network security a web program possesses to ensure the protection of user data.

Serverless Architecture

Serverless architecture is a way of building web applications that don’t require any servers. Instead, the application is built to run directly on cloud platforms like AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions. The development of software applications is done using serverless architecture.

An infrastructure service provider is responsible for managing the provisioning of the underlying infrastructure in this arrangement.

  • You don’t pay for idle CPU time or idle storage – you only spend money on the infrastructure when it’s being used.
  • Expenses are reduced – resources are only utilised when the application is running.
  • The cloud provider handles the difficult scaling tasks.
  • The backend code is made simpler.
  • It lowers development strategies.
  • Reduces cost
  • Increases market time efficiency

You don’t need to manage servers or scale them out as your application grows. You can also use serverless architecture to build microservices that scale automatically when there’s more demand for them.

Also Check: 8 Best Android Frameworks for App Development in 2024

Monolithic Architecture

Traditional software development models like monolithic architecture, commonly referred to as web development architecture, are still used today.

Monolithic architecture is a software design pattern in which an application is written as a single, cohesive unit. It is the opposite of microservices architecture, which consists of multiple, independent applications that communicate with each other to perform tasks. It indicates that all of the parts are interrelated, interdependent, and necessary for the application to function.

  • It creates a lightweight application.
  • Cost efficiency – Monolithic architecture will suffice if money is of the essence.
  • Its deployment is manageable.
  • Building a new project, using frameworks, scripts, and templates, and testing it becomes straightforward since it treats the entire code as a single program.
  • It makes it easier for developers to work on the code – since they don’t have to worry about how their changes will affect other parts of the application.
  • It makes it easier for developers to make changes quickly – because they’re not waiting for other teams to implement changes before moving forward with their work.

However, monolithic architectures have drawbacks as well. For one thing, if one part of the system breaks down or stops working correctly for any reason, then all parts of the system will be impacted by that issue until it gets fixed and everything starts functioning normally again. The same goes when the code becomes bigger.

AWS Lambda is a service that allows you to run code without provisioning or managing servers. It is a serverless computing platform that supports any programming language and can be used for any kind of application or backend service. It was launched in 2014 and was initially offered by Amazon.

  • With lambda, you can build applications that respond quickly to new information.
  • You don’t have to worry about scaling your application, or retooling it when things change.
  • According to the demands of the traffic, servers are automatically added and removed.
  • Lambda provides simple execution.
  • Delivers a cost-effective solution and better app resiliency.
  • Only the necessary features need to be uploaded, and then the app can be activated to start the service.

The environment cannot be controlled, which is a drawback.

What is the 3 Tier Architecture of Web Application?

A 3-tier application architecture is a modular client-server architecture that consists of a presentation tier, an application tier and a data tier. The data tier stores information, the application tier handles logic and the presentation tier is a graphical user interface (GUI) that communicates with the other two tiers. The three tiers are logical, not physical, and may or may not run on the same physical server.

  • Presentation tier : This tier, which is built with HTML5, cascading style sheets (CSS) and JavaScript , is deployed to a computing device through a web browser or a web-based application. The presentation tier communicates with the other tiers through application program interface (API) calls.
  • Application tier : The application tier, which may also be referred to as the logic tier, is written in a programming language such as Java and contains the business logic that supports the application’s core functions. The underlying application tier can either be hosted on distributed servers in the cloud or on a dedicated in-house server, depending on how much processing power the application requires.
  • Data tier : The data tier consists of a database and a program for managing read and write access to a database. This tier may also be referred to as the storage tier and can be hosted on-premises or in the cloud. Popular database systems for managing read/write access include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server and MongoDB.

Also Read: HTML Tags List: HTML Cheat Sheet

What is Application Architecture and Types?

Application architecture defines the methods and patterns you can follow to design and build your application. It provides the direction and best practices to build your application with the right features and structure. The behaviour of your application is determined by the architecture it is built upon.

Architecture is the starting point in the process of developing an application and it shows how different components of your application are to be arranged. It also provides details on how different components will interact and deliver functionality.

Types of Architecture

Monolithic architecture provides a cohesive application structure where all of the business concerns are coupled in a single codebase. Therefore, it’s a tightly packed system of interdependent functionalities. It is a primary architecture for most legacy applications. Simpler design and fast performance are among the key benefits of monolithic application architecture.

Although this is an efficient and coherent system, it has numerous disadvantages, like limited flexibility and stability. Further, a complex structure makes system updates and maintenance a hard nut to crack. Hence, monolithic architecture is a more suitable option to develop mobile apps with fewer functionalities.

N-Tier Architecture

Tiered architecture is divided into separate layers that stack above each other to manage various aspects of an application. These layers pass on data either downward or upward, depending on the application architecture design.

These layers work with each other and data moves from one layer to another. In the N-tier architecture, there can be any number of layers, but usually, there are 3-4 layers. Also, typically, two layers, the Data layer and UI layer, are common for most n-tier architectures.

Microservices Architecture

Today, businesses have accelerated their digital transformation efforts with the increasing customer needs. Therefore, they need more flexible applications that can be quickly adapted to meet the rising demands. Microservices is the best-suited application architecture for creating complex decoupled applications.

Microservices architecture is composed of smaller services and these services lack interdependence, meaning they are not dependent on each other. Every microservice can be developed, deployed, and modified without affecting the whole application because of its exclusivity.

Also Read: How to Center Text & Headers in CSS Using the Text-Align Property

What is the Layered Architecture of a Web Application?

The application architecture is made up of several layers: design layer, frontend layer (HTML and CSS), backend or data layer (database and scripting languages), platform (browser/OS), and business layer. These layers are built on top of each other and depend on each other to create a successful project.

Presentation Layer

This layer represents the design and UI components on the client side. Users interact with this layer to send requests through the application layer to the server. It displays the data flow for the users. The main purpose of this layer is to take data from users and show the response from the server (data layer). Our UI team can help you create the right experience to help your business attract customers’ attention.

Application Layer

The application layer consists of an API gateway. Front-end developers write code to pass the data from the presentation layer to the business logic layer where it is processed. Data will pass to APIs and get stored in the database, depending on the feature it is utilised in the business layer for application logic and to perform certain actions.

Business Layer

This layer has all implementations of application logic. Data from the application layer gets utilised here for example in a lead generation application a form is submitted in the presentation layer and data travels through APIs and is then used to send out emails or to perform any action on the lead before getting stored in the database.

Data or Backend Layer

All the data gets stored in the database and retrieved from it to use on the front end (client-side). Data travels from the database through APIs, from the application layer in creating modules or components that are converted to UI and the user then interacts with that in the presentation layer.

The architecture of web applications plays a pivotal role in their performance, scalability, and maintainability. Adopting a suitable architecture is crucial for ensuring a seamless user experience and efficient development process. Whether opting for monolithic, microservices, or serverless architectures, it’s essential to align the chosen approach with the specific requirements of the application.

Striking the right balance between front-end and back-end components, utilising robust frameworks, and prioritising security measures are integral aspects. As technology evolves, staying abreast of emerging trends like progressive web apps and single-page applications is essential for building modern, responsive, and resilient web applications.

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Architecture of Web Applications FAQs

What is the architecture of web applications.

Web application architecture refers to the structured design and organisation of components that make up a web application, including the client-side and server-side elements. It typically involves components like the user interface, application logic, and databases working together to deliver a seamless user experience.

Why is web application architecture important?

Effective web application architecture ensures scalability, performance, and maintainability. It helps in organising code, handling user interactions, managing data securely, and providing a foundation for future growth and updates.

What are the key components of web application architecture?

Web application architecture consists of three main components: the presentation layer (user interface), the application layer (business logic), and the data layer (database and storage). These components work together to deliver a functional and user-friendly web application.

What are common web application architectural patterns?

Common architectural patterns include Model-View-Controller (MVC), Microservices, and Serverless. These patterns offer different approaches to organising and structuring code, depending on the application's requirements and complexity.

How does web application architecture impact performance?

Well-designed web application architecture contributes to optimal performance by ensuring efficient data flow, minimising latency, and enabling effective caching strategies. Performance considerations include server response times, data retrieval, and rendering on the client side.

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Visual Paradigm Blog

Home » Business » ArchiMate examples

ArchiMate examples

  • Posted on March 8, 2022
  • / Under Business
  • / With 7 Comments

In this article, you will see a rich collection of ArchiMate examples views, organized into a layered framework following the ArchiMate standard. These ArchiMate views demonstrate how ArchiMate elements can be used. Some of the examples can be used as design patterns.

The examples are designed with Visual Paradigm Online , based on the examples in the ArchiMate Cookbook. If you have not yet checked out the cookbook, recommend you take a look. Link: http://www.hosiaisluoma.fi/ArchiMate-Cookbook.pdf

ArchiMate Example Views

Framework view.

This Framework view structures all the views being used. It can be used for navigation between diagrams.

Motivation Views

example application diagram

Edit this ArchiMate Diagram

This motivation view can be used to examine the motivations, or causes, that drive an organization’s design or transformation, as well as its enterprise architecture, which serves as the foundation for all change operations and business transformations within a company. This view depicts the development effort’s vision, whether the scale and scope encompass the entire organization, a subset of it (e.g., a line of business), or a particular program or project (solution level). Note that a value can be added to any ArchiMate element, such as the outcome (or any other ArchiMate element), to show what the real value add is.

The Business Motivation Model (BMM) [specification v.1.3, 2015, OMG] is used to define the motivational elements.

Mission-Values-Vision View

Archimate Diagram template: Mission-Values-Vision View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The purpose, vision, and basic values of the organization can all be represented using the Mission-Values-Vision view. It helps you identify an organization’s purpose, what is the organization actually doing or intends to do, and what is the primary reason for its existence. The vision is the desired state of the organization in the future. The vision, the culture, and the ideals of the organization are all supported by core values. Strategic goals must be met in order for the organization’s vision to be realized.

Reference: Aldea, A. – Iacob, M.-E. – Hillegersberg, J. – Quartel, D. – Franken, H. (2015) Modelling strategy with ArchiMate.

Strategic Value Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Strategic Value Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Strategic Value Map view visualizes an organization’s strategies. All development operations must be drawn – directly or indirectly – from this view, which comprises strategic value-elements. It is feasible to track all of the other aspects associated with the actual strategy execution by visualizing the strategic values. The approach can be represented, conveyed, and related to reality with this perspective.

Stakeholder Analysis View

Archimate Diagram template: Stakeholder Analysis View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Stakeholder Analysis view is frequently used for stakeholder analysis to identify the change drivers. First, identify the important stakeholders, then the change drivers that are in their best interests. The “Assessment” concepts can be used for in-depth driver analysis, such as using the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) technique. Different stakeholder view diagrams can be generated from various viewpoints, as is customary. Another reason for breaking up huge diagrams into smaller ones is to keep them compact and readable — for the purpose of clarity.

Stakeholder View

Archimate Diagram template: Stakeholder View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This Stakeholder view connects stakeholder motivations to corporate objectives. Goals are the most important component of an organization’s development. Any subsequent elements for all change actions should be traced back to these primary reasons.

Principles View

Archimate Diagram template: Principles View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Risk & Security View

Archimate Diagram template: Risk & Security View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Risk and Security concepts are mapped to the ArchiMate through this view. Risk management includes concerns about security and data protection. Both are covered by this view.

References:

  • How to Model Enterprise Risk Management and Security with the ArchiMate® Language, Open Group, DocumentNo: W172, 2017.
  • Modeling Enterprise Risk Management and Security with the ArchiMate® Language, Open Group, 2015.

SWOT Analysis View

Archimate Diagram template: SWOT Analysis View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Objectives and Key Results

Archimate Diagram template: Objectives and Key Results (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

OKR, short for Objectives and Key Results, is a popular management method for defining goals and tracking progress. It aids in the creation of alignment and engagement around measurable objectives. OKRs are made up of two parts: (1) the goal you wish to attain and (2) the key results that will be used to track your progress toward that goal.

Objectives are…

  • Qualitative explanations of what you want to accomplish that are memorable. Short, inspiring, and engaging objectives are ideal. The team should be motivated and challenged by the goal.

Key results are…

  • Set of measures that track your progress toward achieving your goal. You should have two to five key results for each target. Having too many key results will make it hard for people to remember.

Another version with actions shown below.

Archimate Diagram template: Objectives and Key Results 2 (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Strategy Views

Archimate Diagram template: Strategy View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Strategy View

Business strategy-related concepts such as “Course of Action,” “Capability,” and “Resource” are now available in ArchiMate version 3, and can be used to model an organization’s business plans. The usefulness and significance of this view lies in the manner that the organization’s goals can be linked to strategies and then to enterprise architecture via capabilities. This view can be used to apply the “Goal-Based Strategic Model” (Azevedo et al. 2015), in which goals form a hierarchy that can be dissected into lower-level goals.

Business Strategy View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Strategy View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Business Motivation Model (BMM) View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Motivation Model (BMM) View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Requirements View

Archimate Diagram template: Requirements View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This Requirements view can be used to collect needs based on strategic objectives. This is the process of connecting strategies to implementations: strategies can be traced all the way to execution.

Strategy to Capability View

Archimate Diagram template: Strategy to Capability View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Strategy to Capability view, along with other ArchiMate elements like “Driver” and “Goal,” can be utilized for Capability-Based Planning (CBP), as shown in the ArchiMate diagram below. This view can be used to aid in the planning (and execution) of strategies. As a result, this type of perspective can be employed in the Strategy-to-Capability phase, which is part of IT4IT’s “Strategy-to-Portfolio” phase.

Capability Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Capability Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Capability Map view can be used to give a high-level overview of a company’s capabilities: what it does or can do.

Capability Planning View

Archimate Diagram template: Capability Planning View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Capability Planning view can be utilized for “the Link between Strategy and Enterprise Architecture,” as defined by Capability-Based Planning (CBP). This approach can be used to map strategies to required capabilities and capabilities to resources and other building blocks, among other things.

Capability Realization View

Archimate Diagram template: Capability Realization View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Capability Realization View 2

Archimate Diagram template: Capability Realization View 2 (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Another example of the Capability Realization view that shows how to define which elements can be used to realize a capability.

Value Stream View

Archimate Diagram template: Value Stream View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

It is important to note that at the beginning of a value chain / value stream, a “directed association” is used. Value “stages” can be found in a value stream. A “value chain,” which is made up of value streams, can be analogous to an overarching, high-level value stream. The IT4IT (link) introduces a value chain that includes four value streams: Strategy to Portfolio, Requirement to Deploy, Request to Fulfill, and Detect to Correct (link).

Value Stream – Capability Cross Mapping View

Archimate Diagram template: Value Stream – Capability Cross Mapping View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

A simple example of a Value Delivery Chain is shown below. The ArchiMate Value Stream element, which is featured in the ArchiMate 3.1 edition, can be used to model Value Chains, Value Networks, and Value Streams.

This is a more detailed example of how capabilities assist (serve) the value stream. This perspective can be used to define WHAT the company does (the Business Model) and WHY capabilities are required, as well as their relationship to value creation.

The reference implementation of the Lean EA Framework (LEAF) includes this view (link). Go to “Value Streams” and then “Value Delivery Chain.”

Business Model Canvas View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Model Canvas View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This is a basic version of A. Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas (BMC), and it can be tweaked to fit your needs. Versioned techniques such as “Service Model Canvas” and “Lean Canvas” are also available. A BMC can be used to design and innovate business models, for example.

“Facilitates tracing of requirements from business requests down to design specifications” by modeling a BMC with ArchiMate. This aids in the discovery of the consequences of changes in business models on architectural design.” [L.O. Meertens and colleagues]

Built-in architecture assistance for strategy and business model analysis is included in holistic development. This allows business analysts and developers to assess how well the business model supports the strategy and fits within the organization, as well as vice versa.

When the BMC is modeled in a modeling tool, one benefit of this method is that all of the BMC’s elements can be reused in other views of the same model repository. When pivoting the business model, all of the changes are obvious right away. Business modelers can construct new elements, such as services, or use all of the repository’s existing elements, such as organizational units and resources.

Concept Canvas View

Archimate Diagram template: Concept Canvas View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The BMC can come in a variety of forms, as shown above. The layered approach of ArchiMate is reflected in the layout of this Concept Canvas.

Business Views

Business Architecture Layer Views.

There are various “maps” of elements controlled within the EA-tool in each layer, such as Business Services Map, Process Map, and so on. After you’ve recognized and introduced maps, you can use them in other diagrams (such as layered views). The maps’ goal is to handle “EA assets” catalogs as “portfolios” (analogous to portfolios of ideas, services and projects etc.). Other features, like as properties or attributes, are often provided by EA-tools for each element. These can be used to provide further details on each aspect. This type of additional data can also be used for various types of analysis.

Each layer can have multiple maps, such as the following:

  • Business Services, Business Actors, and Business Processes in the Business Layer;
  • Application Services, Applications in the Application Layer;
  • Technology Services, Platforms, and Technologies in the Technology Layer; and so on.

Here are some examples of business layer maps.

Business Services Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Services Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Business Services Map view provides an overview of the company’s business services. For management purposes, this type of view can be utilized as a “Service Catalog” or “Service Portfolio.” It’s critical to figure out what kind of commercial services the company offers to its clients. A business service can also be used to simulate all of the underlying organizational processes and structures. As a result, business services are critical components of the corporate architecture.

Business Process Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This view can be used as a “Process Map,” which provides an overview of the organization’s business processes.

Business Process Co-Operation View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process Co-Operation View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This view can be used to model the operational model, for example.

Business Actors Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Actors Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

There are two kinds of business actions: Internal and external. Customers, business partners, or other stakeholder groups that collaborate with the organization are examples of internal business actors, while external business actors are customers, business partners, or other stakeholder groups that collaborate with the company (such as public sector organizations or other governance authorities).

Business Actor Co-Operation View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Actor Co-Operation View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The following are two usage scenarios:

  • Intra-Enterprise View: This view visualizes how internal business actors collaborate and share information.
  • Inter-Enterprise View: An ecosystem view that portrays the operational environment in which an organization functions. An ecosystem is a collection of organizations and commercial partners that collaborate through interactions. There are suppliers, subcontractors, and other business-to-business partners, as well as customers.

Business Process View

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The business process view shows the “high-level structure and composition of a business process (or numerous processes), the services that are supplied, the assigned roles of actors, and the information used by the business process.” This process diagram includes “Junction” -elements to represent the process flow’s “fork” and “join.”

Below is an advanced process perspective. This is the operating model, which is based on the business model depicted in the above value stream diagram.

Archimate Diagram template: Idea to Production Process (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers)

Archimate Diagram template: SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) is a Six Sigma tool that can be used to define aspects that are similar to all processes. This is a simple method for examining the business case: what value does the customer receive and how does he or she receive it.

Business Process View With Business Roles As “Swimlanes” of a Process – A Layered Approach

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process Swimline View (pattern) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The customer is represented by “Business Role A,” and the customer journey path is represented by the topmost “swimline.”

Note that business roles (visualized as “swimlanes”) are nested inside process steps (activities), implying that these Business Roles are assigned to these Business Processes/process stages. As a result, this view is a hybrid of a layered view and a business process view.

The information and data flows are depicted in this version (flow relationship). The client travel path is represented by the upper “swimline” (activities connected with the triggering relationship).

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process Swimline View (pattern) - Information Flow (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The service design methodology is represented below. The customer journey path (role A) is represented by the topmost “swimline,” which is related to the organization (roles B and C) via business services (1 and 2).

Archimate Diagram template: Business Process Swimline View (pattern) - Services (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Layered Business Process View

This view can be used to represent a business process with both manual and automated steps.

Archimate Diagram template: Layered Business Process View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Customer Journey Map View

When a client journey needs to be studied at a high level, this version is generated utilizing Motivation- and Strategy-elements.

Archimate Diagram template: Customer Journey Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

When the customer service path needs to be examined in further detail, this version is generated using Business- and Application layer (core) parts.

Archimate Diagram template: Customer Journey View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The customer experience is the focus of this customer-centric view. This “service design”-related technique focuses on “outside-in” development of the service being created. This emphasizes the importance of services and products in providing value to customers – and indirectly to the organization. A customer journey route can be used to visualize a customer value stream that includes many application services and apps.

Service Blueprint View

Archimate Diagram template: Service Blueprint View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This Service Blueprint view is centered on the customer and service, but it also highlights the “inside-out” aspect of the service. The service-driven development strategy can identify the underlying behavioral and structural implications of the service that is to be built with the help of this technique. As a result, this view adds process and functional factors to the customer-experience-driven approach.

This view can be found in a variety of forms. The information flows between the layers and elements are the subject of this example.

User Story View

Archimate Diagram template: User Story View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

User stories can be visualized using this view.

Cloud-Service Models View

Archimate Diagram template: Cloud-Service Models View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Information View

Archimate Diagram template: Information View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The following abstraction levels can be used to model information: a) conceptual, b) logical, and c) physical. These layers of abstraction are depicted in the diagram above.

Conceptual Data Model View

Archimate Diagram template: Conceptual Data Model View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Business objects, also known as concepts, that are employed in business operations are contained in the EA’s information architecture. A conceptual data model can be used to represent these concepts and their relationships.

“Service” Concept

Archimate Diagram template: Service Concept (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The service concept is frequently problematic, as can be seen in a variety of ways. To make it obvious which service type is being discussed, it’s a good idea to use the prefix: business-, application-, or technology service. According to ITIL, IT service is tied to production service. As a result. The IT Service is the most closely related to the Application Services.

Service and Product

Archimate Diagram template: Product View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

A product notion can be used to aggregate services as a composite element. Specification according to ArchiMate:

“A product represents a coherent collection of services and/or passive structure elements, accompanied by a contract/set of agreements, which is offered as a whole to (internal or external) customers.”

“A product may aggregate or compose business services, application services, and technology services, business objects, data objects, and technology objects, as well as a contract. Hence a product may aggregate or compose elements from other layers than the Business Layer. “

“A value may be associated with a product. The name of a product is usually the name which is used in the communication with customers, or possibly a more generic noun (e.g., “travel insurance”).”

Application Views

Application services map view.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Services Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Applications Map View

Archimate Diagram template: Applications Map View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application portfolio, which can be separated into divisions depending on business units, for example.

Application Co-Operation View (Data flows)

Archimate Diagram template: Application Co-operation View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Integration View (Dynamic relationships)

The examples (1–10) below show several different techniques to simulate data switching between applications.

  • “Application A” owns the data object “A-1,” which “Application B” requests.
  • “Application A” sends data to “Application B.”
  • “Application A” creates the “A-1” service, which is used by “Application B.”
  • In practice, “Application B” sends a request to “Application A-1” and receives a response…

Archimate Diagram template: Application Integration View (Dynamic relationships) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Structure View

This view is important for designing or analyzing an application’s primary structure, sub-components, and associated data. This diagram can be used to break down the structure of an application system in development, to demonstrate modularization / decomposition: what are the sub-systems / sub-components that they supply, and what are the application services (or application interfaces) that they give.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Structure View 2 (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The behavioral features supplied via the structural interfaces (GUIs and/or APIs in the picture below) are referred to as application services (figure above). “Different sides of the same coin” are Application Services and Application Interfaces.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Structure View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Architecture View

Because there are both applications and application modules in the same view, this view combines EA and solution level techniques.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Architecture View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Component Model (CM)

The Application Component Model 0-n is a technique to modeling application architecture that consists of the following diagrams of various abstraction levels:

  • The diagram at the CM-0 level depicts how the application interacts with its environment, including how it interacts with other apps and users. A black-box is used to represent the target application.
  • The target application is broken down into modules (major components) and what application services (or application interfaces) those modules deliver and demand at the CM-1 level. A white-box is used to represent the target application.
  • Modules are divided into sub-components at the CM-2 level. (The number of essential tiers varies depending on the circumstances.)

Application components and application services are depicted in the Application Component Model (CM) diagrams below. Depending on the situation, application interfaces can be used instead of application services. As always, it’s critical to use a modeling style that’s appropriate for the task at hand, and to model just those aspects that are sufficiently informative and add value. It is up to the modeller whether to highlight the functional features or to be more detailed and model, for example, the actual interfaces with precise nomenclature.

Application components and application services are depicted in the Component Model diagrams below. Instead of using application services, application interfaces might be used.

Application Component Model – 0 (CM-0)

Archimate Diagram template: Application Component Model – 0 (CM-0) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Interactions between the target application and surrounding apps are depicted at the Component Model – 0 (CM-0) level (above). All necessary application services (or application interfaces) are described. The enterprise architecture level components and their services are represented at the 0-level of the diagram, with the target application in the middle.

Application Component Model – 1 (CM-1)

Archimate Diagram template: Application Component Model – 1 (CM-1) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Component Model – 1 (CM-1) level (above) shows how the target application is broken down into modules (or primary components), and which module is responsible for which application services (or application interfaces). Note! External apps are not required to be displayed at this level, but their services (or interfaces) are. When more low-level parts are displayed, more high-level elements can/must be omitted – for the purpose of clarity: to keep the diagram comprehensible.

Application Component Model – 2 (CM-2)

Archimate Diagram template: Application Component Model – 2 (CM-2) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Component Model – 2 (CM-2) level (shown above) depicts how the target application’s modules are made up of sub-components and interact.

Application Functions View

Decomposition of application functionalities: what are the system’s functions, and what application services do they provide?

Archimate Diagram template: Application Functions View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Process View

Archimate Diagram template: Application Process View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The following is the nesting view of the application process view.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Process View – nesting (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The following shows the internal content of the application process view.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Process View – internals (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application Component Sequence Diagram View

Sequence diagrams aren’t exactly covered by ArchiMate; instead, they’re covered by UML. However, as demonstrated below, ArchiMate can be used to model sequences of operations executed by Application Components.

For modeling dynamics between application components, the dynamic relations “Trigger” and “Flow” can be employed. The layout of this view is similar to that of the UML sequence diagram.

Application Component Sequence Diagram View 2

This version (diagram below) shows how ArchiMate can be used to model the actions that internal elements of Application Components perform. Behavioral processes or functions, as well as structural sub-components, are examples of internal parts. Application Process-, Application Function-, and Application Component-elements are used to model them. These are only provided as alternatives.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Sequence View 2 (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The actions in this sequence diagram (above) are as follows:

  • The sub-process “X” of Application Component “A” sends a request message to Application B with the parameter “A.”
  • The sub-process “B-1” of Application Component “B” gets the incoming request and then (synchronously) calls Application Component C, where Application Function “Y” accepts the request, does certain actions, and returns back.
  • The other sub-process “B-2” of Application Component “B” sends a message with parameters to Application Component D and receives acknowledgement. Sub-component “D” of Application Component “D” does the processing.
  • The answer message from Application Component B is received by Application Component “A.”As shown here, we can model quite complex integration cases with combination of these elements (Application Component, Application Process and Application Function and relations (Trigger, Flow). UML sequence diagram has its own specialized purpose in software design, but ArchiMate can be utilized in quite a many modelling purposes – also in application design.

One of the most significant aspects of the enterprise architecture is application integration (EA). That is why it is useful if we can describe how applications switch data and what interaction methods are employed in more detail. Here’s a link to the book “Enterprise Integration Patterns,” which is a fantastic place to start learning about integration patterns.

The same idea of leveraging ArchiMate dynamic relationships Trigger and Flow, which may be used to model both synchronous and asynchronous messaging patterns, is utilized in a sequence with the end-user included (figure below) (request-response and callback, also publish-subscribe etc.).

ETL-process View

Archimate Diagram template: ETL-Process View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

EAI / ESB View

Archimate Diagram template: EAI / ESB View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Layered View

Archimate Diagram template: Layered View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Layered View can be used as a target area overview context diagram. The key benefit of this approach is that it shows how applications are used in business processes and what services they provide. For modeling different layers, the diagram above uses ArchiMate Grouping-element, whereas the diagram below uses the tool’s visual Group-element.

ArchiMate has three (3) layers, which are as follows: The three layers are: 1) the business layer, 2) the application layer, and 3) the technology layer. They are typically colored as follows: Yellow for the Business Layer, turquoise for the Application Layer, and green for the Technology Layer.

Archimate Diagram template: Layered View 2 (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Application & Database View

A database is an important component of an organization’s overall corporate architecture. For example, “Client database,” “Customer database,” “Product database,” and so on. Alternatively, a database can be a logical (and physical) compilation of all of an application’s tables (e.g., “Customer table,” “Orders table,” “Invoices table,” and so on), which collectively form a database. A Data Object can be used to model a logical database (figure below), according to the ArchiMate standard. Chapter 9.4.1 “Data Object” states: “Typical examples of data objects are a customer record, a client database, or an insurance claim.” “A significant exception is when a data object is used to model a data collection with only one instance, such as a database.” ArchiMate includes a clever built-in system that allows you to apply the same concept to several levels of abstraction (and levels of details). As a result, the Data Object, for example, can be used to simulate a logical database, a database table, a message structure (switched across apps), and so on.

Archimate Diagram template: Database Modelling Considerations (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Database As an Application Component

Archimate Diagram template: Database As an Application Component (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Database Abstraction Levels:

Archimate Diagram template: Database Abstraction Levels (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Data Model View:

Archimate Diagram template: Data Model View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Use Case View

ArchiMate can be used to examine use cases from an application’s functional standpoint. As demonstrated in the diagram below, Use Cases (as defined by UML) can be mapped to Application Services.

Archimate Diagram template: Use Case View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

A use case can be broken down into two categories: business use cases and system use cases (a.k.a. system cases). The diagram below shows how a “primary use case” might be represented by a Business Service, with subsequent system cases represented by Application Services.

Archimate Diagram template: Use Case View (Example) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

When use cases are defined as application services, they can be used as pieces of target application functions in other diagrams (such as the layered view). In other words, application services represent an application’s behavior (functionalities). See the ArchiMate Cookbook, link, for more information on use case analysis.

Technology Views

Technology Architecture Layer Views.

Infrastructure View

This view depicts an application’s platform. This pattern can be used to model a run-time environment setup as well as the deployment of a business application.

Archimate Diagram template: Infrastructure View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Infrastructure View (nesting):

Archimate Diagram template: Infrastructure View (nesting) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Implementation and Migration Layer / Transformation Architecture Layer Views

Implementation roadmap view.

Archimate Diagram template: Implementation Roadmap View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Kanban View

Archimate Diagram template: Kanban View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

The Kanban board is a tool for visualizing work and process. The Kanban board depicts how development needs, epics, user stories, and other items flow from the backlog to the ready state (Done). Depending on the volume and breadth of the development scenario, a Kanban board can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, “Epics” can be used at the EA level, and “User Stories” or “Requirements” can be used as work items at the project level. Depending on the situation, the granularity of task items can vary.

Generic View

Archimate Diagram template: Generic View (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

This simplified representation can be used as a context diagram for a specific service, program, or project, for example.

Context Overview – The Milky Way Map

This is a technique for visualizing as much as possible in a single look. See The Milky Way Map with ArchiMate for more information.

Archimate Diagram template: Context Overview – The Milky Way Map (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

Co-operation View

As demonstrated in the data flow diagram example below, the layers can be mixed.

Archimate Diagram template: Application Co-operation View (Extended) (Created by Visual Paradigm Online's Archimate Diagram maker)

These examples are created with Visual Paradigm Online .

Other Resources

  • ArchiMate 3.1 Specification
  • ArchiMate diagram tool – Visual Paradigm (Online)
  • ArchiMate modeling tool – Visual Paradigm (Desktop)

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COMMENTS

  1. Application Architecture Diagram: A Complete Tutorial

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    Application architecture diagrams help you assess the potential impact that upgrading, replacing, or merging existing applications may have on the system. This also makes them especially useful for code maintenance, enabling developers to easily review code and find and patch bugs.

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    Use this template What is the Application architecture example template? Software architecture diagrams are essential for visualizing and organizing the often-complex infrastructure that exists within your cloud architecture.

  5. Architectural diagrams: What is, how to draw and templates

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  6. What is Architecture Diagramming?

    Here are some of the most common architecture diagram examples. ... Application architecture diagram. Application architecture diagrams illustrate application structure. They include components and how they interact with each other as well as the data flow between them. Application architecture diagrams provide a complete view of an application ...

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  8. Architectural diagrams: what to know, and how to draw one

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  10. How to Create an Application Diagram Tutorial

    This step-by-step guide helps you. How to Create an Application Landscape Diagram An overview of the steps to take how to create an Application Landscape Diagram is here below: Assignment Think twice before creating an application landscape without an assignment (of the proper owner/client).

  11. 10 Diagram Examples for Any Type of Project (With Templates!)

    10 Types of Diagrams Examples for Your Team 1. Mind map diagram 2. Hierarchy diagram 3. Matrix diagram 4. Circle diagram 5. SWOT analysis diagram 6. Org chart diagram 7. Gantt chart diagram 8. Workflow diagram 9. Flowchart diagram 10. PERT chart diagram We've all heard the phrase quality over quantity, right?

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