Pattern Language
Book: A Pattern Language. Christophe Alexander
URL = http://downlode.org/etext/patterns/
Description
"his unique approach to thinking about how we create and use space has spawned a kind of minor cult, of which I’d say I’m a fringe member. Which is only to say that when I first came across Alexander’s book many years ago I was deeply affected by his approach to structuring knowledge via patterns, and it has remained an inspiration ever since, though somehow I keep giving away the copies I obtain and never have one of my own (sigh).
Alexander’s ‘pattern languages’ are sort of worlds within worlds, a way of expressing networked relations between objects so that when you think one you necessarily engage the others. In many ways his book entirely accidentally foresaw the basic structure of the hypertextual web, and has proven useful in devising and managing database taxonomies too (just learned this through a quick google search…google is all about pattern languages too I suppose). When I look at this very blog with its categories and trackbacks and various hierarchies, it too is a kind of pattern language." (http://thetalkingshop.ca/2007/01/05/a-web-pattern-language/)
Characteristics
Nikos Salingaros:
"Identifying any type of pattern follows the same criteria in architecture as in hardware or software.
1. A repeating solution to the same or similar set of problems, discovered by independent researchers and users at different times.
2. More or less universal solution across distinct topical applications, rather than being heavily dependent upon local and specific conditions.
3. That makes a pattern a simple general statement that addresses only one of many aspects of a complex system. Part of the pattern methodology is to isolate factors of complex situations so as to solve each one in an independent manner if possible.
4. A pattern may be discovered or "mined" by "excavating" successful practices developed by trial-and-error already in use, but which are not consciously treated as a pattern by those who use it. A successful pattern is already in use somewhere, perhaps not everywhere, but it does not represent a utopian or untried situation. Nor does it represent someone's opinion of what "should" occur.
5. A pattern must have a higher level of abstraction that makes it useful on a more general level, otherwise we are overwhelmed with solutions that are too specific, and thus useless for any other situation. A pattern will have an essential area of vagueness that guarantees its universality."
More Information
- Applying a pattern language to web design?, at http://www.37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/index.html
- A Dutch initiative called Pareltaal is evolving based on the same principles and structure, but turns the problem into a wish, a desire, a goal. By focusing on a problem or hurdle, the goal falls out of sight. By focusing on the goal, the problems vanish. Pareltaal collects pearls (patterns) concerning leadership, chaorganization, communities, new economics, peer production, creativity, innovation, and agile/lean development and the unfolding of human kind.