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Choreography

Choreography

Intro

Choreography models message exchanges between independent participants. In EA and BPM, it shows how parties coordinate without a central controller.

Key points:

  • Focus on interactions, not internal workflows
  • Clarifies responsibilities and contracts
  • Used for B2B integrations, event-driven designs, and partner processes
  • Pitfall: mixing choreography with orchestration details

Examples:

  • Order, confirm, and ship messages between retailer and supplier
  • Claims exchange among insurer, broker, and assessor
  • Payment flows between checkout, gateway, and bank

In practice:

Define message schemas and error handling alongside the choreography.

Related terms: Orchestration; BPMN; Service Level Agreement

FAQs:

Q: When use choreography vs orchestration?
A: Use choreography for peer-to-peer interactions; orchestration for central control.

Q: Does choreography show system internals?
A: No, only the messages between participants.

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