C4 Models
This section contains the C4 Models for Sprout. The C4 Model is an established visualization approach to describe the architecture of a software system. It breaks the system down into four levels of architectural abstraction: Context, Containers, Components, and Code. The last level is rarely used nor recommended for most software architecture since it is used to visualize a high degree of detail that most projects don’t need. Below are the diagrams for the Context, Containers, and Components (the last of which includes three diagrams).
The Context diagram shows the users and any external systems that interact with Sprout. This includes the three user roles data contributor, project admin and project owner described in the users post.
The Container diagram shows the larger parts of the system, what they are responsible for, and how they interact with each other. It also shows the technology choices for each container.
The Component model offers a more detailed view of the system into what the smaller parts are that make up an individual container and that allow it to fulfill its responsibilities. There are three diagrams for the components: the user interface, the (internal) management, and the databases and storage.
User interface
This diagram shows the pages users interact with in the user interface container. In addition, it shows which user roles that can access them. Outside the container is the authentication container and the management container. The authentication container is needed to authenticate users and their access.
Management
This diagram shows the actions and behaviours that happen internally between the user interface and the database and storage. This includes things like creating databases, updating data and metadata, and modifying user roles.
Databases and storage
This diagram shows the components that make up the database and storage container, and the types of actions and behaviours they have.
