Architecture Building Blocks Explorer¶

Run the Architecture Building Blocks Explorer MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

An interactive map of a sample e-commerce system showing components and the connectors between them. It makes the building blocks of architecture concrete and shows how each connector choice (REST, gRPC, async event, direct database access) carries quality-attribute consequences.

How to Use¶

Click any blue component to read its role and the quality attributes it most affects. Click a labeled connector to see its latency profile and the tradeoff it introduces. Use the Architectural Style selector to switch between Microservices, Monolith, and Event-Driven views and compare their quality-attribute profiles.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/atam/sims/architecture-building-blocks-explorer/main.html"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Grade Level¶

Undergraduate / Professional

Duration¶

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Basic familiarity with services, databases, and APIs.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level¶

Understand (L2)

Learning Objective¶

Students can explain the roles of components, connectors, and styles by identifying each in a realistic sample system and articulating why each connector choice has quality-attribute consequences.

Activities¶

Exploration (5 min): Students freely interact with the MicroSim to discover its behavior.
Guided Practice (5 min): Working from the learning objective above, students answer 2-3 focused questions posed by the instructor.
Discussion (5 min): Students share observations and connect them back to ATAM concepts.

Assessment¶

Ask students to identify which connector in the microservices view couples two services' availability, and which alternative connector would decouple them.

References¶

Bass, L., Clements, P., & Kazman, R. (2021). Software Architecture in Practice (4th ed.). Addison-Wesley.
Kazman, R., Klein, M., & Clements, P. (2000). ATAM: Method for Architecture Evaluation (CMU/SEI-2000-TR-004).