Bill Willis

The concept of patterns has been around as long as we humans have been around. In fact, just about everything we do is centered on recognition, repeatable processes, and routine. Patterns as a formal concept, however, are a recent development that relatively few professional disciplines have begun to leverage - the most active of which happens to be the software industry. Ever since the now famous building architect Christopher Alexander made an impression on us, numerous books, articles, and training courses have emerged to catalog patterns and educate us in their use. An interesting thing to note is that although many software developers have heard of patterns and have seen the advertised benefits, most of them still don't fully understand what they are and how to effectively apply them in their daily work. Despite the exciting promise of patterns, they are still ... (more)