[1] https://archive.org/details/APatternLanguage
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design_pattern#Histor...
I always had the notion though, the software pattern way was a misinterpretation of Alexanders ideas. Alexander doesn't stop to emphasize that a pattern can (and should) have an uncountable number of slightly different implementations, as the special situation requests. He is outspokenly against reusing an implementation without adequate modification for the situation in architectural applications.
I always understood the highest goal in software engineering is to write code that can be reused without modification. I never could agree that this is a good idea for the users of software. It is only more economical to build. Just what Alexander defines as the most evil thing ever, because in architecture this leads to faceless homes.
The idea to reuse implementations of patterns is one that in another context delivers us cars that are more or less all VW Golf (Rabbit) underneath.
And Stewart Brand is one of my intellectual heroes.
"A building is not something you finish, it is something you start"
This is no more truer than with software. Anyone who has had to write in-house software will appreciate that sentiment!
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=...
Reading this besides something like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a good exercise in seeing the world a little more clearly.
Available in hardcover on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Constructio...
ATWoB is more philosophical, and lest about specific implementation.
APL includes nuggets along these lines: "Therefore: Make a public square much smaller than you would at first imagine; usually no more than 45 to 60 feet across, never more than 70 feet across. This applies only to its width in the short direction. In the long direction it can certainly be longer."
"When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from one side unused and empty.[...]Therefore: Locate each room so that it has outdoor space outside it on at least two sides, and then place windows in these outdoor walls so that natural light falls into every room from more than one direction."
There are 253 patterns in the book, covering governed regions down to building wall details.
Most of the patterns are based on common sense and practical experience. What's novel is that they're written down and cross-referenced.
I find myself frequently nodding my head in agreement while reading - it's immensely satisfying to see ideas in concrete form that have been floating about in my head for years.
But, if I design fireplaces for other people - not for myself - then I never have to build a fire in the fireplaces I design. Gradually, my ideas become more and more influenced by style, and shape, and crazy notions - my feeling for the simple business of making fire leaves the fireplace all together."
There are some links on Ward Cunningham’s software patterns wiki:
http://www.livingneighborhoods.org/
See also https://www.patternlanguage.com/
http://www.bp.ntu.edu.tw/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/06-Alexa...
