In today’s fast-paced development world, manual documentation often struggles to keep up with constantly evolving software architectures. Enter Architecture as Code — a growing trend that treats architectural diagrams as part of your codebase. In this blog post, we explore how this approach enhances automation, collaboration, and consistency across teams. We highlight key tools like Structurizr, PlantUML, Diagrams, Mermaid, and more, which empower developers to create architecture diagrams using code. Learn how integrating these tools into your CI/CD pipeline can transform your documentation process, making it more maintainable, reproducible, and developer-friendly.
𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲
We see more tools enabling you to create software architecture and other diagrams as code.
The main benefit of using this concept is that 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
The other benefit responsible for the growing use of diagrams as code to create software architecture is that it enables text-based tooling, which most software developers already use.
For architecture, as code, we can use different tools, such as:
𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗿: Create multiple diagrams from a single (C4) model. https://structurizr.com/
𝟮. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗨𝗠𝗟: It is an open-source tool that allows users to create diagrams from a plain text language. https://lnkd.in/dWKnyicV
𝟯. 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀: Turn Python code into cloud system architecture diagrams. https://lnkd.in/gPcpcJ7z
𝟰. 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱: Generation of diagram and flowchart from a text similar to Markdown. https://lnkd.in/dsTGKbwM
4b. Mermaid Charts ChatGPT plugin: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-1IRFKwq4G-mermaid-chart-diagrams-and-charts.
𝟱. 𝗔𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗜 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿: Free editor for drawing ASCII diagrams. https://asciiflow.com/
𝟲. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗽: Could you visualize your Markdown as mind maps? It supports the VS code plugin. https://markmap.js.org/
𝟳. 𝗚𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀: Create system diagrams with Go. https://lnkd.in/d-cAq8zB
𝟴. 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺.𝗼𝗿𝗴: You can create your UML sequence diagrams online using text notation. https://lnkd.in/drux93gN
Image: PlantUML