XwkOnt Architectural Principles¶
Purpose¶
This document defines the architectural principles that govern XwkOnt.
These principles take precedence over implementation details.
Principle 1 — Reuse Established Standards¶
XwkOnt adopts established standards, specifications, and accepted practices whenever they satisfy the project's requirements.
Project-specific conventions are introduced only when no suitable standard exists.
Decision order:
- Reuse
- Reference
- Adapt
- Introduce
Principle 2 — Everything Has Provenance¶
Every significant artifact shall identify its origin.
Possible provenance classifications:
- Adopted
- Adapted
- Referenced
- Introduced
Introduced artifacts should include a rationale.
Principle 3 — Concept-Centric¶
XwkOnt is organized around concepts rather than ontologies.
Concepts are the primary means by which users navigate and compare foundational ontologies.
See docs/adr/ADR-0011-adapt-iso-1087-concept-as-organizing-unit.md for why "Concept" (not "Term," "Class," "Universal," or "primitive") is the correct organizing-unit label.
Principle 4 — Source First¶
Authoritative sources remain authoritative.
XwkOnt links to, cites, and compares them.
Principle 5 — Traceability¶
Definitions, mappings, and comparisons should always be traceable to authoritative references.
Principle 6 — Neutrality¶
XwkOnt documents and compares.
It does not advocate or replace existing foundational ontologies.
Principle 7 — Open-World Philosophy¶
The project assumes knowledge evolves.
New ontologies, concepts, references, and mappings can be incorporated without changing these principles.
Future Work¶
Before introducing any project-specific structure, XwkOnt will evaluate existing standards for possible adoption, including metadata, identifiers, provenance, citations, and terminology.