Pattern Oriented Software Architecture Volume 5: On Patterns and Pattern Languages

I Inside Patterns

Glass mosaic in an old monastery in Latvia© Mai Skou Nielssen

In the first part of the book we focus on stand-alone patterns, so that we can present and discuss the insights into describing and applying patterns that we have gained over the decade since writing A System of Patterns and related pattern works. These insights complement existing discussions and definitions of patterns, helping us to understand patterns at a deeper level that reflects the maturation of the field.

Stand-alone patterns are perhaps the most widespread and most successful flavor of the pattern concept in the software community. Moreover, the majority of all software patterns documented in the body of literature ‘stand alone.’ To support a better understanding of stand-alone patterns, we therefore investigate this concept in depth, taking three perspectives: concept, implementation, and documentation.

• Chapter 1, A Solution to a Problem and More, explores the conceptual aspects of stand-alone patterns. We start with an explanation of the fundamental structure of a pattern and discuss key considerations regarding the quality of its proposed solution. We then address the role and importance of forces, context, and the genericity of a pattern's solution, and end with reflections on the use of diagrams, the naming of patterns, and their maturation over time.
• Chapter 2, A Million Different Implementations ...