Chapter 9. Closing Thoughts

The most important thing is that you take the pattern seriously. There is no point at all in using the pattern if you only give lip service to it.

—Alexander, 79

In this book we reviewed the basics of software development and object-oriented development. We also covered the core concepts that comprise patterns, explaining context and form and the role forces play in understanding the appropriateness of using patterns. Through a series of design examples, we could see some of the various places that patterns enter the software development activity and the benefit they add there.

Hopefully, by combining the examples and methods of applying patterns in both initial system design and maintenance, you feel ready to go out and take advantage of this exciting area. However, I caution you to focus on the basics, consider the context at work before applying a pattern. As shown in several examples, sometimes applying a pattern where the context does not warrant it, serves only to make things more complex to build. It is extremely difficult at times to balance the elegance of design with raw simplicity to get the job done (and then continual refactoring of the architecture as the program evolves).

At this point, I recommend that you delve deeper into patterns and read some of the references at the end of the book. I also recommend that you consider using the pattern form to document your reusable design solutions. It focuses you to think about the rationale of your solutions and gives you, as a developer, a better insight into why something was good and how it could be better. I've found that putting a design idea into pattern form sometimes leads me to think about the problem in new and exciting ways.

Well, that's it in a nutshell (oops, different series). Hopefully, this book has inspired you to look at the process of developing software in a new and exciting way. It is my sincere hope that the paradigm shift I've observed in teaching patterns and consulting has occurred for you reading this book. In either case, I appreciate any feedback or experiences you may have, so please feel free to write to me at the following e-mail address: [email protected].