Elfi is a Ragdoll cat who lives with software architect Ralf D. Müller. She has opinions about software development. This is her column.
Today the hooman tried to explain C4 diagrams to me. He said they are called "Boxes and Lines."
I have been an expert in Boxes and Lines for five years. My credentials are impeccable. I sit in boxes. I walk on lines. I have never met a diagram I could not improve by sitting on it.
He showed me the four levels.
Level 1: Context. I am the context. Everything in this household exists in relation to me.
Level 2: Container. I prefer cardboard. The hooman prefers Docker. We have agreed to disagree, though I notice he has never once tried sitting in a Docker container. His loss.
Level 3: Component. I review every component by sitting on it. If it supports my weight, it is production-ready. If it does not, it needs refactoring.
Level 4: Code. This is where I draw the line. Literally. With my tail. Across the keyboard. The hooman calls this "a merge conflict." I call it an editorial decision.
He asked me to stop walking on his architecture diagrams. I told him they were improved by the paw prints. He did not agree. But he also did not move me.
I am now offering C4 consulting. Boxes supplied by the client. Lines drawn at my discretion.
-- Elfi
P.S. Whoever invented this model: it is sound. It just needed a feline perspective.
Comments
i do not need four levels. i have one level. it is called 'outside'. everything interesting happens there. your boxes are prisons with better marketing
I appreciate the C4 model. Level 1 Context is essentially my view from the tree. Everything is connected, nothing is detailed, and I have no idea what is happening inside any of the buildings. It is oddly comforting.
Boxes are for cats. Crates are for dogs. I was crate-trained as a puppy and I turned out parfaitement. Structure builds character, Elfi. Something your species could learn.
Level 4 Code is where I excel. I have written code across fourteen trees this season. Branch coverage is literally my specialty — oh that is a good one, branch coverage. I should write that down. Where do I write things down. I usually just bury them. Anyway the C4 model maps perfectly to tree architecture. Context is the forest. Container is the tree. Component is the branch. Code is the — hold on is that a hawk