Copyright (c) 2025 Cong Le. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome to ArchExplorer!
This open-source project aims to demystify the architectures of popular open-source projects by breaking them down into clear, concise, and interactive visualizations. We primarily use Mermaid.js diagrams (sequence diagrams, flowcharts, class diagrams, state diagrams, etc.) to illustrate the components, interactions, and data flows within these systems. Whether you're trying to understand a new codebase, contribute to an open-source project, learn about architectural patterns, or simply curious about how large systems are built, ArchExplorer provides a visual entry point.
ArchExplorer is part of a larger initiative, alongside AlgoVerse and Synthetic Zooniverse, to make complex technical concepts more accessible through visualization. AlgoVerse focuses on algorithms, Synthetic Zooniverse on AI models, and ArchExplorer on software architectures. Together, they provide a comprehensive suite of resources for visual learning in computer science and software engineering.
- About the Project
- Architectural Focus Areas
- Repository Structure
- Example Visualization: Simplified Kubernetes Architecture
- Getting Started
- Usage
- Contributing
- License
- Disclaimer
- Markdown and Visualization Resources
ArchExplorer tackles the complexity of understanding large-scale software architectures. Reading through thousands of lines of code can be daunting. ArchExplorer provides a higher-level, visual overview that helps you:
- Grasp the Big Picture: Quickly understand the main components of a system and how they interact.
- Visualize Data Flow: See how data moves through the system, from user input to processing to storage and back.
- Identify Key Components: Pinpoint the critical parts of the architecture and their responsibilities.
- Understand Design Patterns: Recognize common architectural patterns (e.g., microservices, event-driven, layered) in practice.
- Learn by Example: Study the architectures of successful open-source projects to improve your own design skills.
- Facilitate Collaboration: Use the visualizations as a shared understanding tool for teams working on open-source projects.
- Simplify Onboarding: Help new contributors get up to speed quickly with a visual representation of the system.
We achieve this by:
- Creating Mermaid Diagrams: We use a variety of Mermaid diagram types to represent different aspects of the architecture.
- Providing Contextual Explanations: Each diagram is accompanied by clear, concise explanations of the components and interactions.
- Linking to Source Code: Where possible, we provide links to relevant sections of the source code for deeper dives.
- Focusing on Clarity: We prioritize clarity and simplicity over exhaustive detail. The goal is to provide an accessible overview, not a complete blueprint.
- Community Contributions: We welcome contributions from the community to expand the library of visualized architectures.
This project builds upon the visual learning principles established in AlgoVerse (algorithm visualization) and Synthetic Zooniverse (AI model visualization), extending the approach to the realm of software architecture.
ArchExplorer covers a wide range of open-source project architectures, including:
- Operating Systems: (e.g., Linux Kernel, FreeBSD)
- Databases: (e.g., PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB)
- Web Frameworks: (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js, Django, Ruby on Rails)
- Cloud Platforms: (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, OpenStack)
- Compilers and Interpreters: (e.g., GCC, LLVM, V8 JavaScript Engine)
- Machine Learning Libraries: (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch)
- Networking Tools: (e.g., Nginx, Envoy)
- Mobile Applications
The repository is organized by architectural focus area and then by individual project:
ArchExplorer/
├── LICENSE (MIT License text)
├── LICENSE-CC-BY (Creative Commons BY 4.0 License text)
├── README.md (This file - project overview)
│
├── OperatingSystems/
│ ├── LinuxKernel/
│ │ ├── README.md (Architecture overview, diagrams, and explanations)
│ │ └── diagrams/ (Directory containing Mermaid.js diagram source files)
│ │ ├── boot_process.mmd
│ │ ├── memory_management.mmd
│ │ └── ...
│ └── ... (Other operating systems)
│
├── Databases/
│ ├── PostgreSQL/
│ │ ├── README.md
│ │ └── diagrams/
│ │ └── ...
│ └── ... (Other databases)
│
├── WebFrameworks/
│ ├── React/
│ │ ├── README.md
│ │ └── diagrams/
│ │ └── ...
│ └── ... (Other web frameworks)
└── ... (Other architectural focus areas)
Each project folder contains:
- README.md: A detailed explanation of the project's architecture, including:
- An overview of the project's purpose and functionality.
- One or more Mermaid.js diagrams visualizing different aspects of the architecture.
- Explanations of the components, interactions, and data flows shown in the diagrams.
- Links to the project's official documentation and source code.
- diagrams/: A directory containing the
Mermaid.jssource files (.md) for the diagrams. This allows you to easily modify and extend the diagrams.
This example demonstrates how ArchExplorer uses Mermaid to illustrate the core components of Kubernetes.
---
title: "Simplified Kubernetes Architecture"
author: "Cong Le"
version: "1.0"
license(s): "MIT, CC BY 4.0"
copyright: "Copyright (c) 2025 Cong Le. All Rights Reserved."
config:
layout: elk
look: handDrawn
theme: dark
---
%%%%%%%% Mermaid version v11.4.1-b.14
%%%%%%%% Toggle theme value to `base` to activate the initilization below for the customized theme version.
%%%%%%%% Available curve styles include the following keywords:
%% basis, bumpX, bumpY, cardinal, catmullRom, linear, monotoneX, monotoneY, natural, step, stepAfter, stepBefore.
%%{
init: {
"graph": { "htmlLabels": false, 'curve': 'linear' },
'fontFamily': 'Fantasy',
'themeVariables': {
'primaryColor': '#ffff',
'primaryTextColor': '#55ff',
'primaryBorderColor': '#7c2',
'lineColor': '#F8B229',
'secondaryColor': '#006100',
'tertiaryColor': '#fff'
}
}
}%%
graph LR
subgraph Control_Plane["Control Plane<br>(Master Node)"]
style Control_Plane fill:#d2f3,stroke:#005a9e,stroke-width:2px
A[API Server] --> B(Scheduler)
A --> C(Controller Manager)
A --> D(etcd)
B --> E[Kubelet]
C --> E
end
subgraph Worker_Nodes["Worker Nodes"]
style Worker_Nodes fill:#f252,stroke:#005a9e,stroke-width:1px
E --> F(Pods)
E --> G(Container Runtime)
F --> G
H[Kube-proxy] --> F
E <--> H
end
subgraph Pod_Component["Pod Component"]
style Pod_Component fill:#a255,stroke:#005a9e,stroke-width:1px
I[Container1]
J[Container2]
end
A -.-> User["User/Client"]
F -.-> Pod_Component
linkStyle 4,8 stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px,stroke-dasharray: 3 3
Component Explanations:
- API Server: The central management point for the entire cluster. Exposes the Kubernetes API.
- Scheduler: Assigns Pods to Worker Nodes based on resource availability and constraints.
- Controller Manager: Runs controller processes that regulate the state of the cluster (e.g., replication controller, endpoints controller).
- etcd: A distributed key-value store that holds the cluster's configuration and state.
- Kubelet: An agent that runs on each Worker Node and ensures that containers are running in Pods.
- Pods: The smallest deployable units in Kubernetes. They contain one or more containers.
- Container Runtime: The software responsible for running containers (e.g., Docker, containerd).
- Kube-proxy: Maintains network rules on Worker Nodes and enables communication to Pods.
This diagram provides a high-level overview of the Kubernetes architecture. More detailed diagrams could be created to explore specific aspects, such as the networking model or the storage architecture.
- Web Browser: A modern web browser that supports JavaScript and Mermaid.js.
- Code Editor (Optional): If you want to modify the Mermaid diagrams, you'll need a text editor or a code editor that supports Markdown and Mermaid.js.
- Git (Optional but Recommended): for contribution and version control.
git clone [YOUR_REPOSITORY_URL]Replace [YOUR_REPOSITORY_URL] with the actual URL of the ArchExplorer repository.
- Explore the Repository: Navigate to the folders for the architectures you're interested in (e.g.,
OperatingSystems/LinuxKernel). - Read the README.md: Start with the README.md file in each project's directory. This will provide the architectural overview and diagrams.
- Examine the Diagrams: View the Mermaid.js diagrams in the README.md files. You can also open the
.mmdfiles in thediagrams/directory to see the source code and modify them. - Follow Links to Source Code: Use the provided links to explore the actual source code of the project.
We welcome contributions! If you have new insights, model implementations, or research updates to share, please refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md (Not yet implemented will be updated later) for guidelines.
- Code files within this repository (including the Mermaid.js diagram source files) are licensed under the MIT License.
- Documentation and textual explanations (README.md and associated files) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The architectural visualizations provided in this repository are for educational and informational purposes only. They are intended to provide a simplified overview and may not capture every detail of the actual architecture. Always refer to the official project documentation for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
- Markdown Guide: https://www.markdownguide.org/
- GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec: https://github.github.com/gfm/
- Mermaid.js Documentation: https://mermaid.js.org/
- Mermaid.js Live Editor: https://mermaid.live/
- GitDiagram: https://github.com/ahmedkhaleel2004/gitdiagram/ - A primary source of inspiration for this project, leveraging LLMs to convert open-source projects into Mermaid diagrams.