The Pattern Almanac 2000 [Paperback]

Linda Rising (Author)

Book Description

Series: Software Patterns | Publication Date: January 15, 2000

Every year, the design patterns movement grows, as more developers discover how patterns can help them build much better software, and do so much more quickly. Now, there's an exceptionally comprehensive, easy-to-use, and portable reference for every developer who uses patterns. The Pattern Almanac brings together key information about hundreds of the world's most widely used patterns. This is the first book that catalogs all the stages, resources, and templates of pattern development -- all thoroughly annotated, cross-referenced and sourced, so any developer can use them effectively. It covers both standalone patterns and sub-patterns included in collections. Coverage includes analysis, architecture, business planning, class libraries, client/server development, concurrency, databases, design, distributed systems, memory management, networking, performance, refactoring, transaction processing, and many other categories. Developers will even find patterns designed for specific domains, such as finance, healthcare, and telecommunications.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Software patterns are reusable designs that occur again and again, and over the last decade, researchers have been very busy cataloguing them for the rest of us. The Pattern Almanac 2000 takes stock of over 700 previously published patterns. Sure to be a must-have for any serious software designer or project manager, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into the richness of the patterns movement.

For anyone who has followed the emergence of software patterns, this text compiles traditional sources of expertise. Its pages contain the "original" 23 patterns defined by Erich Gamma and the so-called "Gang of Four" team that in 1995 published the bestselling Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. The almanac also gathers the patterns published in the four-volume series Pattern Languages of Design 1 through 4. That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg here, as this almanac compiles over 700 patterns from other books, magazines (including C++ Report), conferences, papers, and Web sites.

This almanac is organized into about 70 categories of patterns, ranging from "Accounting" to "Writers' Workshops" and including almost everything in between. Each entry gets a short sentence or two of description, additional sources, and cross-references to related patterns. For programmers, there are patterns for C++, Java, and Smalltalk (which gets well over a hundred in number). Because successful project and team management can be difficult, many patterns deal with more effective software design throughout the project's life cycle. Specialized topics include patterns for finite state machines, parallel processing, fire alarms, and even patterns about patterns. (These sections look at some rules for defining new patterns, as well as running conferences and workshops.) Patterns often have short and sometimes evocative names. You'll find it all here, including early patterns like "Facade" and "Observer," as well as more entertaining ones like "Big Ball of Mud" or (our favorite) "George Washington Is Still Dead."

Although browsing through The Pattern Almanac 2000 will not make you an expert on patterns, it will introduce you to a world of expertise on reusable designs. It's a truly valuable reference for any software developer or manager. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Reference listing of software patterns, analysis patterns, organizational structures, patterns for effective software design (including user interface design), patterns (and anti-patterns) for team and project management; C++ idioms, history patterns, patterns for multimedia and Web design, Java and Smalltalk patterns, databases, patterns for defining new patterns (and running pattern conferences and workshops), finite state machines, telecommunications, Smalltalk patterns, client-server frameworks, patterns for education, system testing, parallel processing, patterns for cryptography and security.

From the Inside Flap

This book organizes and describes published patterns to help you find the pattern(s) you need. It contains two kinds of patterns: those that stand alone (patterns), and those that work within a collection (subpatterns). The collections may be pattern languages, or they may be patterns published as a unit that solve problems in a particular domain. In other words, collections comprise interdependent patterns that work together to one degree or another. Stand-alone patterns and collections of patterns are generically termed entries of the Almanac.

The first section you encounter, the List of Almanac Entries, is just that: an exhaustive list of all entry titles. Next comes the Categories section, which lists categories of patterns in alphabetical order. Each category is followed by patterns, collections, and experience reports. After Categories comes the heart of the book, the Almanac Entries, containing descriptions of the patterns and collections themselves. Next comes the Bibliography, which contains references for all entries and experience reports. Finally, there is an Index of entries, subpatterns, authors, and citations.

If you know the name of a pattern or collection and want to know more about it, use the List of Almanac Entries. If you're not sure of the exact title but know a key word or two, use the Index. If you're interested in patterns for a given domain, look the domain up in the Categories section. With time, you will develop your own technique for using the Almanac effectively.

I'm sure you'll also discover areas for improvement. If you find that I have missed a book, article, or URL that harbors patterns, by all means let me know. References to publications that show patterns in action are also welcome. And of course, corrections or additions of any kind are greatly appreciated, especially regarding misinterpretation of pattern intent or characterization, misspellings, annoying habits—you name it!

A sticky topic that I hesitated to tackle, at least for now, is pattern evaluation. For those who know Christopher Alexander's work, he labels his patterns with asterisks that indicate how successfully each pattern captures a "deep and inescapable property of a well-formed environment" Alexander+77, xiv. In that vein, I'd love to hear stories about patterns that have or have not worked for you, as well as insights regarding pattern evaluation and categorization. Please send everything to risingl@acm, and thanks in advance for your input! Acknowledgments

This has been an exhilarating project! It couldn't have happened without the hard work of many people—first and foremost, the pattern writers. Thank you all. I am honored to be a proxy for your contributions to the pattern literature.

Thanks to John Vlissides for believing I could really pull this off. He made a significant contribution to the project.

Thanks to Paul Becker, Mike Hendrickson, and Sarah Weaver at Addison-Wesley for their support in bringing the book to fruition.

Thanks to Ross Venables for collating all those files!

Thanks to Luci Crackau for her work on the categories and for allowing me to take over her office.

Thanks to Patrick Chan, the Java Developers Almanac author and Frame guru who has been a tireless co-developer of this book. Thanks also to Arthur Ogawa, TEX wizard, for contributing his valuable skills to the layout.

Thanks to Rosemary Michelle Simpson, indexer extraordinaire, who also made many valuable suggestions for this book.

Thanks to Joel Jones, a former fellow grad student, who jumped in to ferret out experience papers and write up summaries.

Thanks to all the reviewers who spent valuable time coming up with improvements to this work.

Thanks to Charlie Schultz and Jeff Seigel, my original supporters at AG Communication Systems, and to Paul Narula, my most recent coach, for allowing me to spend time on this effort.

Finally, thanks to Karl Rehmer, who reminds me, when I forget, that I have everything I need. Thanks, you dear heart! L.R.
Phoenix, Arizona
January 2000
risingl@acm 0201615673P04062001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201615673
• ISBN-13: 978-0201615678
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,711,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Be forewarned, July 24, 2000

By 

Robert Street - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pattern Almanac 2000 (Paperback)

When this book is described as a listing of 700+ patterns, think literally. No UML, no suggested implementation, no rationale, no CRC - just a brief description of the pattern. And I do mean brief; the GoF's Mediator is reduced to six or seven lines. If you're looking for a good book on patterns, go elsewhere. If you're looking for a good index to pattern material you may already have (JOOP, GoF, Smalltalk Patterns, PLoP books, PLoP conferences, and others) this may be a worthwhile investment as the book includes excellent citation sections.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What we've been waiting for!, November 22, 2000

By 

Robert Hanmer (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pattern Almanac 2000 (Paperback)

This is the book that the pattern community has been waiting for! The one source of pointers and intents for all the patterns that have been published about software and selected other topics. In order to locate a pattern, or even know it existed before this book you would have had to have studied all the various pattern books and websites, ranging from the Gang of Four (Gamma, Helm, Johnson & Vlissides) to the latest PLoP proceedings. This book makes it possible to identify a problem that you have (such as dealing with queues), turn to the index to look up that topic (12 different patterns related to queues are indexed, as well as citations of several collections of patterns), and then turn to the cited pages to determine if the patterns might be useful to you in solving your current problem.

The value of this book is not that it restates all the patterns, it is in its ability to index the patterns so that they can be found. I think it does an admirable job of this. To achieve this Linda Rising has tackled the monumental job of documenting the intents of all these patterns. For those patterns that I'm familiar with she's done a great job capturing the intent.

This book won't make the reader an expert on the use of any pattern, but will contribute to their ability to create better software.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Catalog, July 26, 2000

By 

C. Jaensch (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pattern Almanac 2000 (Paperback)

Considering that one of the hard parts of applying patterns is finding initially the right one for the problem at hand, this is an excellent catalog to support one in this task. Certainly, it's not a book to start learning about patterns. But after one has done the required homework (reading the GoF and POSA book) it's an excellent place to start hunting for additional patterns. I especially love the multiple indices.

I missed two things. I would have liked to see a better context desciption for each pattern and I missed a few patterns that I consider useful. Among those are the recently published "SanFrancisco Design Patterns", although Pattern purists may possibly argue whether the latter already qualify as patterns by the "rule of three".

In any case, a very good (4 1/2 stars) addition to ones desktop!