Ways To Use Patterns

Though we most often talk about DesignPatterns, patterns have many uses. This page is a shot at building a taxonomy, not of patterns, but of the domains patterns serve.

Early in the days of patterns we talked about two main uses of patterns: for teaching and learning, and for reference. That splits patterns into two major categories.

This page probably needs some major reorganization; anyone who has the energy shouldn't feel bad about throwing this away and starting over. I just wanted to get things rolling.

This page probably needs some major reorganization; anyone who has the energy shouldn't feel bad about throwing this away and starting over. I just wanted to get things rolling.

• PatternsForTeaching
  • Expositional patterns (patterns of teaching)
  • Read the project's book of relevant domain patterns before starting work on the project
  • Patterns as a means to understanding paradigms (e.g. the GangOfFour patterns)
• PatternsForReference?
  • Documentation on how to extend frameworks
  • Documentation for specific problems
    • Process problems
    • "Design" problems
    • Idioms
  • To provide analogies from other domains
  • To document code ("this code is the Z component of the Y pattern")

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[WhyPatternsAreDifferent]