Exercise 2 · Architecture design: choose, draw and challenge
| Time | 17 minutes, after the Module 2 slides |
|---|---|
| Blueprint sections | 4 System context and component diagrams |
| You need | Your Virtual CTO conversation from Exercise 1; the Decision Lab; your Blueprint |
| You leave with | A chosen architecture style, a system context, a component diagram and one rejected alternative, with reasons |
| Safety tip | Describe systems, not secrets: no server addresses, passwords, keys or real customer records |
Where you are
You have your five technical priorities. You have seen the four layers, the building blocks and four architecture styles, and the idea that scalability is not the same as complexity. Now you choose the simplest architecture that meets your priorities, draw it, and make your Virtual CTO argue against it.
What you will make
A system context: your product, its users and the outside systems it talks to. A component diagram: the main parts inside, and what each is responsible for. And a short decision: the style you chose, why, and the alternative you rejected.
For TutorDesk: parents and tutors use TutorDesk, which talks to a payment provider, Google and Outlook calendars and an email/SMS service. Inside is one modular web application (accounts, bookings, payments, calendars), one database and a background job runner. Style: modular monolith. Rejected: microservices, because a team of three can't operate many services; revisit at three or more teams.
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