Software (design) patterns resources

Note

This page is permanently under construction, but not very frequently updated. Send me email if you have comments or suggestions. You may also be interested in my pages on Software Architecture, Making good (OO) Software, Checking (OO) software quality. Also check out the RevJava tool that we're developing.

Introduction

Patterns were introduced and used by Christopher Alexander to encode knowledge and experience in designing buildings. He defines a pattern as the core of a solution to a problem in context. The solution can be applied in different situations, and has to be adapted to fit the needs of the specific situation. In the (OO) software community the idea of patterns has become popular over the past years. Patterns are used to describe software design structures that can be used over and over again in different systems. They - too - provide a general solution that has to be applied in a particular context, where you use the forces (design considerations) to decide whether the pattern is useful and how you could implement it best. People tend to distinguish different kinds of patterns, e.g. architectural (overall system structure), design (micro-architectures that can occur in different situations) and idioms (programming language specific patterns). There are on-line examples of several of them (see below).

Patterns are linked to ongoing developments on Software Architecture.

Background information

There are several papers discussing Alexander's ideas and what's happening with it in the OO community.

Doug Lea published Christopher Alexander: An Introduction for Object-Oriented Designers.
A couple of years ago I wrote an article on OO Software Architecture (sorry, it's in Dutch).
This is a paper on OO Patterns (in Dutch) together with Mark van Elswijk
Brad Appleton wrote an (on-line) article about the essential concepts and terminology of software patterns

On-line pattern-resources

Instead of listing all the books, research projects, etc. here just jump to the Patterns Home Page that is dedicated to patterns. It gives information about books, conferences, mailing-lists and on-line pattern catalogues.

In addition, check out the following:

The WikiWikiWeb is an on-line discussion server with many good discussions on patterns and related topics.
The Cetus pattern links are a good starting point to find on-line pattern materials.
Amnon Eden has started a page on Formal and Precise Pattern Specifications.

Some on-line patterns

Again, check out the patterns home page. In addition, here are some I've looked at:

Portland Pattern Repository
Patterns for adaptive systems from Karl Lieberherr's Demeter project.
Doug Schmidt's home page
Brian Foote's patterns
Scott Amblers home page (with process patterns)

Specific pattern collections

IBM's Patterns for E-business allow you to architect a system based on business model and architectural patterns.
The J2EE pattern framework from the Java Developer's Connection
Toivo Lainevool's XML patterns site
Martijn van Welie's patterns on interaction design

Tools (research and others)

At Utrecht University I've worked on tool support for patterns.
Automatic code generation from design patterns at IBM, see the article
Roel Wuijts works on SOUL
Aamod Sane has done work on a pattern lint.
Boris Bokowski works on lint like rules for java programs.
ModelMaker has pattern support for Delphi development
The Smalltalk Refactory a tool to reorganize Smalltalk programs.
Check out our RevJava tool that can check proper applications of patterns in Java code.

Conferences

Some conferences are dedicated to patterns. Check the patterns home page. You can also find pattern specific workshops, tutorials, etc. at the regular OO conferences. Look at the OOPSLA page or the ECOOP Home Page.

Courses

SERC regularly runs (commercial) architecture and patterns workshops to introduce teams and organizations to the ideas of patterns and to experiment with them.

Books

There are lots of books about or related to patterns. Check out the Patterns Home Page for more details and recent updates. For convenience, here is a list of books I have read myself (in no particular order):

C. Alexander, A Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press. 1979
C. Alexander and S. Ishikawa and M. Silverstein, A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press.
E. Gamma et.al., Design Patterns - Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, Addison Wesley, 1995
W. Pree, Design Patterns for OOSD, Addison Wesley, 1994
J. Coplien, D. Schmidt (Eds), Pattern Languages of Program Design (PLoP94 proceedings), Addison Wesley, 1995
P. Coad et. al., Object Models: Strategies, Patterns and Applications, Prentice Hall, 1995
J. Coplien, Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms, Addison Wesley, 1992
Taligent’s Guide to Designing Programs (C++), Addison Wesley, 1994
F. Buschmann, et. al. Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture - A System of Patterns, Wiley and Sons Ltd., 1996.
David C. Hay, Data Model Patterns: Convention of Thought, Dorset House Publishing, 1995
Jiri Soukup, Taming C++: Pattern Classes and Persistence for Large Projects, Addison-Wesley, 1994
J. Vlissides et.al. (Eds), Pattern Languages of Program Design 2 (Plop95 proceedings), Addison Wesley, 1996.
Kent Beck; Smalltalk Patterns: Best Practices, Prentice Hall, 1997
M. Fowler, Analysis Patterns, Addison Wesley, 1996
R. Martin et.al. (Eds), Pattern Languages of Program Design 3, Addison Wesley, 1998.
Doug Lea; Concurrent Programming in Java: Design Principles and Patterns, Addison Wesley, 1996
J. Vlissides, Pattern Hatching; Design Patterns Applied, Addison Wesley, 1998.
Sherman R. Alpert, K. Brown, B. Woolf ; The Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion; Addison Wesley, 1998
W.J. Brown et al; Anti Patterns. Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis; John Wiley & Sons, 1998
Mark Grand; Patterns in Java, Volume 1 & 2; John Wiley, 1998
Linda Rising; The Patterns Handbook, SIGS, 1998
Martin Fowler; Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, Addison Wesley, 1999
Douglas Schmidt, et al. Pattern-oriented Software Architecture Vol 2: Patterns for Concurrent and Networked Objects, Wiley 2000
Martin Fowler, et.al., Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, Addison Wesley Professional, 2002.