Home GOTO Experts Simon Brown

Simon is a renowned consultant specializing in software architecture, and the author of some of the most popular software architecture books, including Software Architecture for Developers (a developer-friendly guide to software architecture, technical leadership and the balance with agility).

He is also the creator of the C4 model for visualizing software architecture, and the founder of Structurizr. Simon is a regular speaker at international software development conferences, and travels the world to help organizations visualize and document their software architecture.

Join Simon to get a fascinating taste of modern software architecture, most often with interesting links back to traditional modeling techniques.

Check out some of Simon’s past talks:

Upcoming masterclasses featuring Simon Brown

2 Days: Software architecture for developers

This 2-day workshop will give you an introduction to a pragmatic and practical approach to software architecture; including technical leadership, communication and how to balance up front design with agile approaches.

Day 1

Introduction

Architecture

  • What is software architecture?
  • Architecture vs design
  • The importance of software architecture

Architectural drivers

  • Requirements
  • Quality attributes
  • Constraints
  • Principles
  • Agility

Software design exercise

  • Software design exercise
  • Design exercise review #1

Architects

  • A definition of the software architecture role
  • Technical leadership and the different leadership styles
  • Technical skills
  • Soft skills
  • Software architecture and coding

Visualising software architecture

  • Design exercise review #2
  • Diagramming anti-patterns and typical problems
  • The "model-code gap"

Discussion, questions and wrap-up

Day 2

C4 model - core diagrams

  • Abstractions and creating a shared vocabulary with a ubiquitous language
  • An overview of the C4 model
  • Notation and tips for better diagrams
  • System Context diagrams
  • Container diagrams
  • Component diagrams

Software design exercise

  • Software design exercise
  • Design exercise review #3

C4 model - supplementary diagrams

  • C4 and UML
  • System Landscape diagrams
  • Dynamic diagrams
  • Deployment diagrams
  • Frequently asked questions

Documenting software architecture

  • The importance of documentation
  • Writing lightweight supplementary documentation using a "software guidebook" or arc42
  • Architecture decision records

Tooling

  • Diagrams vs models
  • Extracting software architecture information from code and "architecturally-evident coding styles"

Software architecture in the delivery process

  • Quantifying and prioritising risk
  • Identifying risk with risk-storming
  • Design exercise review #4
  • Waterfall, RUP, agile, etc
  • The conflict between architecture and agile
  • Approaching software architecture in a pragmatic, lightweight way
  • How much up front design is enough?

Discussion, questions and wrap-up

Monday Sep 28 @ 09:00 & Tuesday Sep 29 @ 09:00 | Copenhagen, Denmark

Reserve your spot now

Content featuring Simon Brown

46:32
Modular Monoliths
Modular Monoliths
GOTO Berlin 2018
29:45
Five Things Every Developer Should Know about Software Architecture
Five Things Every Developer Should Know about Software Architecture
GOTOpia November 2020
Expert Talk: DevOps & Software Architecture
Expert Talk: DevOps & Software Architecture
GOTO Unscripted
39:06
Diagrams as Code 2.0
Diagrams as Code 2.0
GOTO Copenhagen 2021
51:40
C4 models as code
C4 models as code
YOW! Brisbane 2022
51:40
C4 models as code
C4 models as code
YOW! Sydney 2022
40:52
C4 Models as Code
C4 Models as Code
YOW! London 2022
51:40
C4 models as code
C4 models as code
YOW! Melbourne 2022
44:11
The C4 Model – Misconceptions, Misuses & Mistakes
The C4 Model – Misconceptions, Misuses & Mistakes
GOTO Copenhagen 2024
40:41
The C4 Model – Misconceptions, Misuses & Mistakes
The C4 Model – Misconceptions, Misuses & Mistakes
GOTO Amsterdam 2024
Software Architecture for Developers Masterclass Taster with Simon Brown
Software Architecture for Developers Masterclass Taster with Simon Brown
Software Architecture for Developers
Software Architecture for Developers
Diagrams as code 2.0 with Simon Brown
Diagrams as code 2.0 with Simon Brown
The Lost Art of Software Architects
The Lost Art of Software Architects

Past masterclasses featuring Simon Brown

Visualising Software Architecture with The C4 Model | YOW! Sydney 2025

Visualising Software Architecture with The C4 Model | YOW! Melbourne 2025

Visualising Software Architecture with the C4 Model | GOTO Amsterdam 2024

2 Days: Visualising Software Architecture with the C4 Model | GOTO Copenhagen 2024

Visualizing software architecture with the C4 model | YOW! Melbourne 2022

Visualizing software architecture with the C4 model | YOW! Sydney 2022

2 Days: Visualising Software Architecture with the C4 Model [SOLD OUT] | GOTO Copenhagen 2022

Visualising software architecture with the C4 model | GOTO Copenhagen 2021

SOLD OUT 2 Days: Visualising Software Architecture with the C4 Model | GOTO Aarhus 2022

Visualising Software Architecture with the C4 Model | GOTO Berlin 2018

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