The Relative Architecture Manifesto


Ten principles. The foundation everything else builds on.


  1. Organizations deliver value by fulfilling responsibilities.
  2. Responsibilities originate in the business or product domain, not in technology.
  3. Architecture should model responsibilities before modeling systems.
  4. Responsibilities may be fulfilled by people, partners, manual processes, or software capabilities.
  5. Capabilities are the software realization of responsibilities.
  6. Responsibilities collaborate by requesting outcomes through intent.
  7. Responsibilities share facts through events.
  8. Domains organize responsibilities and their vocabulary.
  9. System behavior emerges from networks of collaborating responsibilities.
  10. The same architectural model should apply at every level of responsibility.

*Each of these ten lines is a post in this series. Start anywhere.*

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