Resources, Sources, and References

Both patterns and the UML emerged in the last half-dozen years, when the Internet made such a big impact on the way people in the systems world communicate. Much of what is here is culled from publicly available sources; most is available on the World Wide Web. The Internet's mailing lists and e-mail facilities were also critical for supporting the research that went into this book. To a significant extent, this book would not have been possible before the Internet.

The most notable source for material on patterns is the WikiWikiWeb site, also known as the Portland Pattern Repository. Started by Ward Cunningham, a pioneer of patterns, CRC cards, and other such tools for connecting systems to people, this site is a fascinating and idiosyncratic glimpse at the patterns community, perhaps as seen by the multifaceted eye of a spider.

Using a technology that exploits the mostly neglected hypertext capabilities of the Web, it combines snippets of patterns, longer rambling observations and personal anecdotes, and freeform commenting. The results are unique. Anyone can contribute. Each contribution can be added to, edited, erased, and connected to other contributions in a free-form fashion by anyone. It results in the Web being what it should be: a tool for supporting what I will explain is a very vital and virtual community of practice.

I used the various patterns' mailing lists, magazine Web site articles, and patterns books for details on changing ideas, changing attitudes, and as sources for specific material. The mailing lists provided pointers to sources that I quote and reference and are otherwise useful as an archive of the recent evolution of the patterns community.

The handful of good books that have been published have provided frozen-in-time snapshots of ideas and intensive examples of real patterns. In keeping with the philosophy of patterns, many of the best patterns in the patterns books are also available on the Web, where they are subject to ongoing criticism, evolution, and reflection. Software development magazines have articles and columns that are both less immediate than the lists (and WikiWikiWeb) and more accessible than the books. They provide an additional invaluable source of critiquing and insight.

The UML sources are a mirror image of those for patterns, as they reflect the difference between organizational "official" initiatives and those that emerge from a community. Material directly meant for the Web is secondary, although much of the material is available on the Web.

Because the UML is an initiative driven by organizations (in particular, the metaorganization known as the Object Management Group and the commercial development tools organization known as Rational Software), official and anonymous UML pronouncements have substituted for the give-and-take of WikiWikiWeb as a central source. However, the mailing lists dedicated to dissecting the UML and castigating its authors (especially the OTUG mailing list and its variants that are maintained by Rational) have been most useful as sources of attitude and altitude, that is a higher-level perspective.

Other, non-system works have contributed directly to my book. In particular, Donald Schon's The Reflective Practitioner(1983) and Thomas Kuhn's The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions (1970) provide some intriguing insights into how professional practitioners work and think that elucidate aspects of both patterns and the UML. And, naturally, all of Christopher Alexander's works have been critical.

The various Web sites and collections of magazines and books reflect the new intellectual culture we're living in. For example, many of the quotes are deliberately taken from secondary sources (references provided by email messages, Web papers, and WikiWikiWeb material). They show the quotes that developers feel add meaning to what they do. Still, it must be said, much of what I write about is based on my own very general experience. In selecting from this public storehouse, I've been deliberately personal, selective, and perhaps idiosyncratic the better to tell the story well.



A UML Pattern Language
A UML Pattern Language (Software Engineering)
ISBN: 157870118X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 100
Authors: Paul Evitts

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