Pattern Uses

One pattern Uses another pattern when (part of) the resulting context of a larger scale pattern is addressed by the initial context of a smaller scale pattern.

This is is the only explicit relationship between patterns in Alexander's original architectural patterns, where it is called containment. JimCoplien calls this relationship refinement (see PatternLanguageTaxonomy). GerardMeszaros and Jim Doble ( MetaPatterns: A Pattern Language for Pattern Writing,1996 http://hillside.net/patterns/writing/patternwritingpaper.htm) call this leads to and its inverse set up by. This is the key relationship in WalterZimmer?'s analysis of relationships between patterns in PatternLanguagesOfProgramDesign-1.

I call it uses because the word "uses" has only four letters.

-- JamesNoble

The inverse relationship is an interesting way to look at patterns, PatternCompletes?. That is, once you've used the CompositePattern, TwoPhaseCompositeOperation is one of the possible patterns that completes it. Each pattern solves a problem, and creates other (you hope smaller) problems, which have to be handled by downstream patterns.

Yes. I find the inverses of all the relationships interesting (although I tend to call this inverse PatternUsedBy? because it needs less explanation :-).

RelationshipsBetweenPatterns