Week 5 Dig: Architecture from ruins
Spatial analysis — reconstructing the mental model the original authors had from directory structure, entry points, and file naming conventions alone.
22 March 2027
Before the dig#
Run find . -type f | head -200 (or equivalent) on your dig site. Without
reading the code inside any file, draw a diagram of the project’s structure:
- Where is the entry point?
- Where does configuration live?
- Where are tests, if any?
- Is there a clear separation between interface and logic?
- What naming conventions do the files follow?
The diagram is the artefact. Hand-drawn is fine; the tool is not the point.
In the session#
Present your diagram. The class challenges your reading: does the directory
structure reflect the application’s architecture, or is it an accident of
history? A utils/ folder that contains half the codebase is a diagnostic
finding, not a neutral fact.
Afterwards#
Write a 200-word site plan summarising the architecture you reconstructed. Name the structural decisions you can identify — MVC, monolith, plugin architecture, no architecture — and what they tell you about the team’s experience level and priorities.
The spec
What you bring to the session. Written so a reader can tell whether it has been met without asking you.
- you have drawn an architecture diagram of your dig site based on its directory structure
- you can identify the entry point and the main data flow without reading function bodies
- you can name at least one structural decision that tells you how the team thought about the problem
Teaching team
- Maren Voss — convenor