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arc42 - the template for software architecture documentation and communication

= image:./small-arc42-logo.png[arc42] Template ("Golden Master") :version 8.1: :downloads https://arc42.org/downloads/:

image:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vshymanskyy/StandWithUkraine/main/banner2-direct.svg[https://vshymanskyy.github.io/StandWithUkraine]

arc42 - the template for effective, practical and pragmatic software architecture documentation and communication.

Initially created by Dr. Gernot Starke and Dr. Peter Hruschka (way back in 2005...), free and open source.

This repository contains all downloadable versions plus the (AsciiDoc) source of the arc42 template.

It is used...

  • as the basis for generating (by the https://github.com/arc42/arc42-generator[arc42-generator] project) the official download formats (i.e. docx, markdown, docbook and others). To generate, THIS repo is included as submodule from the generator project. Use the gradle build contained here just for preview!
  • to maintain structure, content and help for the template
  • to keep non-asciidoc, non-generable formats (like Sparx(R) Enterprise-Architect(R) EAP).

In case you find issues within the template or its explanations, this is the repo to fix and issue pull requests :-)

== Diagrams We intend to provide all diagrams in platform-neutral formats, mainly drawio.

The source of these diagrams is embedded in a .png file. To make this explicit, we use the combined extension .drawio.png for our diagrams. The drawio tools will recognize this and open such files in the editor instead of an image viewer.

Therefore we will gradually remove all files under ./graphics-originals

== Downloads

Please refer to the https://arc42.org/download[official download page] for all downloads.

== Languages

The EN and DE versions are actively maintained by the founders (G.Starke & P.Hruschka). Translations to additional languages (IT, ES, NL) have been provided by volunteers, but won't be automatically updated.

== Build the HTML version

In case you want to build the HTML version of the template, just checkout this repo and call


$> gradle asciidoctor

on the command line. Within the build.gradle script, you might replace the default language (EN) with your choice.

Currently (May 2022) you need to use Java 8 to build!

== Questions on using arc42?

  • see the extensive https://docs.arc42.org[documentation website]
  • see the https://arc42.org[overview]

== Suggestions welcome

Open an issue here!