Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design

Design Patterns Arose from Architecture and Anthropology

Years ago, an architect named Christopher Alexander asked himself, “Is quality objective?” Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder or would people agree that some things are beautiful and some are not? Now, the particular form of beauty that Alexander was interested in was one of architectural quality: what makes us know when an architectural design is good? For example, if a person were going to design an entryway for a house, how would he or she know that the design was good? Can we know good design? Is there an objective basis for such a judgment? A basis for describing our common consensus?

Alexander postulates that there is such an objective basis within architectural systems. The ...