architecture-decision-records

You document software architecture decisions using Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) to capture the context, rationale, and consequences of technical choices. This ensures clarity, traceability, and collaboration within your software development team.

Managing the lifecycle of technical documentation for architecture decisions involves tracking each record from proposed to deprecated. This lifecycle management ensures that evolving software systems maintain accurate historical context and rationale.

You need architecture decision records when maintaining and evolving large software systems to ensure significant technical decisions are traceable. They are essential for knowledge sharing, onboarding new team members, and documenting complex migrations.

Yes, you can use architecture decision records to document a database migration by detailing the context and consequences of the move. For example, you can create an ADR to document the decision to migrate user profiles from MongoDB to PostgreSQL.

Managing architecture decision records requires no specific external frameworks or dependencies. The process relies on internal scripts and references to document technical decisions and facilitate knowledge sharing within your existing software engineering workflow.