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

Summary

Variation in concepts can be one of the greatest challenges that an analyst can face. In this chapter, I presented a simple analysis tool that I have found helpful in making sense of such variation. I call this tool the Analysis Matrix, and it is based on the concepts of Christopher Alexander and Jim Coplien. I applied this tool to a sample problem to show how it might reveal the types of patterns that are inherent in the problem. While this tool is very useful in containing variation and helping me think about my problem domain, I do not pretend it captures all aspects of a design.