What is a Tech Radar?

A Tech Radar is a visual framework for categorizing, tracking, and evaluating technologies based on their relevance and maturity. Originally popularized by ThoughtWorks, Tech Radars help teams and individuals make informed decisions about what tools, platforms, techniques, and architectural approaches to adopt, trial, assess, or avoid.

It typically organizes technologies into four quadrants (e.g., Tools, Platforms, Techniques, Languages) and across rings of adoption (Adopt, Trial, Assess, Hold). The result is a curated, evolving map of technologies tailored to a specific context.

Purpose of This Radar

This Tech Radar reflects my personal and professional exploration of technologies through the lens of software and systems architecture. As a data engineer with deep roots in architecture, this radar helps me:

• Stay intentional about the tools and practices I adopt.
• Track emerging trends in software design, infrastructure, and developer tooling.
• Identify experimental or niche technologies worth prototyping.
• Curate an opinionated view that guides my technical direction in projects.

Quadrants

1. Architecture & Methods
   Core architectural philosophies, modeling approaches, and software design patterns.

2. Platforms & Infrastructure
   Foundational systems and services for building, running, and operating applications.

3. Tools & Engineering Practices
   Productivity tools, quality enablers, and automation that improve engineering workflow.

4. Emerging Architectures
   Bold, innovative, or speculative technologies that challenge the status quo.

Who Is It For?

While this radar is primarily for my own learning and reflection, I hope it also serves:

• Other engineers passionate about architecture.
• Teams seeking to establish a common vocabulary around tech decisions.
• Anyone curious about how I think about technology.

Thanks to the folks at AoE GmbH for creating this awesome and configurable Tech Radar. You can find it here

— Stefan Mikic