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Software Architecture Guide

Publishing the conceptual data model

Explanation

Section titled “Explanation”

A conceptual data model describes the key business terms of a domain and how they relate. See the article Conceptual Data Model. Publishing it means making it visible to the whole organization, so people can read and use it.

The arc42 glossary (section 12) holds the key domain and technical terms that stakeholders use when they talk about the system. See the articles arc42 Glossary and Ubiquitous Language. A published model can serve the same purpose. Its terms give architects and developers one shared vocabulary.

Two points from the facts matter for a published model.

Ownership. arc42 suggests making the product owner or project manager responsible for the glossary. A published model needs a named owner in the same way.

Change over time. The ubiquitous language and the model should evolve as the team’s understanding of the domain grows. A published model is therefore never finished. If it stops changing while the domain moves on, readers will trust a stale picture.

Example

Section titled “Example”

A team finishes its model of an online shop with the terms Customer, Order and Product. It publishes the model where all teams can find it. It names the product owner as the person responsible. Later the team learns that “Order” and “Delivery” are different things. The owner updates the model and the glossary together, so everyone sees the same terms again.

Trade-offs

Section titled “Trade-offs”

A published model needs ongoing care. Without an owner and regular updates, it drifts away from how the team understands the domain, and a stale model can mislead readers. The facts available here do not cover publishing channels, tools or training, so this article does not discuss them.

Checks

Section titled “Checks”
  • A named role, such as the product owner or project manager, is responsible for the glossary.
  • The glossary lists the key domain and technical terms stakeholders use when discussing the system.
  • The published model and glossary are updated as the team’s understanding of the domain grows.
Section titled “Related”

Sources

Section titled “Sources”