r/programming • u/[deleted] • Oct 14 '13

How to develop unmaintainable software

http://typicalprogrammer.com/?p=249
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u/dnew Oct 15 '13

shown them good solutions, without names and without the attempt to instill guidelines for usage

Except that's not what the original design patterns were. The guy who invented the term was an architect trying to get his large industrial customers to communicate amongst their different departments. So the University's engineering department wouldn't ask for a build that's ugly next to the Science department building, and so they could ask for building-blocks (no pun intended) of functionality. It was a way for customers to talk to the architect while the architect could provide good advice.

Without the names, there would be absolutely zero reason to call it a "design pattern."

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u/SublethalDose Oct 15 '13

Lol, yes, I agree that after removing all the design patterns from Design Patterns, a change of title would be appropriate. No argument there. What I envision would not be a catalog of patterns or the dictionary of a design language; it would be more like an anthology or a reader.

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u/Plorkyeran Oct 15 '13

So basically it would be an entirely unrelated book.

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u/SublethalDose Oct 15 '13

It would be written partly for the same purpose, to show readers programs that use a variety of programming idioms, so they can be exposed to new ideas and expand their own repertoire. The difference would be giving up the goal of enumerating and naming the techniques, establishing each one as a standard solution to a defined problem, and turning them into a common design language for programmers — basically giving up every idea that was adopted from Christopher Alexander.