Pattern Catalog

A PatternCatalog is a collection of (possibly) related patterns. Patterns in a pattern catalog do not form a PatternLanguage; that is, their contexts do not weave them together.

Nonetheless, patterns in a PatternCatalog are often written with consideration to other patterns in the same catalogue.

One might postulate that a PatternLanguage generates what Parnas called a SoftwareFamily?, while a PatternCatalog does not. That is, as a whole, a PatternLanguage is generative, while a PatternCatalog is not.

I view the DesignPatternsBook as a PatternCatalog. Its patterns were written with careful attention to their interworkings, yet the patterns do not form a PatternLanguage.

-- JimCoplien

Consider also ThePatternAlmanac book -- a true catalog of lots of patterns. It does not even contain the patterns -- just bibliographic references to them.

CategoryGroupsOfPatterns