[Gllug] Web Site Creation

[Richard Turner]

Doug Winter wrote:
> Richard Turner wrote:
> 
>> Of course, one of the good things about OOP is that there are so many
>> design patterns out there now often you're problem's solved just by
>> tacking a few patterns together; the hard work has already been done
>> for you so you only have to concentrate on the specifics rather than
>> pondering architectures.
> 
> 
> I'm surprised to see this claim - certainly even the most ardent
> patternista I've ever spoken to has never claimed anything quite so
> strident.

:)

> Naming things is certainly useful, since it makes them easier to
> discuss, but it doesn't really make them any easier to use.  Having
> lists of patterns is nice because it's a way of capturing architectural
> knowledge that is otherwise difficult to pin down.

A catalogue is a little more useful than a list of names too - it's
handly for inspiration as to how to assemble a solution.

> However, the hard work is in selecting the appropriate pattern, and no
> pattern language or catalogue can make that decision for you - it's not
> an algorithmic decision, and depends on your understanding of the
> problem in hand, how it might mutate in the future, what the forces at
> play in your project are, your understanding of the deployment
> environment and all sorts of other stuff.  A good software architect and
> a bad one are differentiated by these decisions that they make.

Yeah, very true. Not 'hard work' then, 'hard grind' perhaps? There's no
doubt in my mind that patterns make architecting simpler, because I can
choose from a variety of patterns that work instead of having to come-up
with my own design that often is not entirely unlike a pattern only not
quite as flexible.

Granted the projects I've been working on haven't required massive
frameworks - they've tended to be one-man-band things - so the
architecture has never been so complicated that I've been overwhelmed by
the number of patterns that might fit. Lucky me! :)

> Patterns are not the silver bullet, unfortunately.  In fact I have it on
> quite good authority that there isn't one ;)

D'oh, that's terrible news! Good job I don't hunt werewolves then!

-- 
"Racing turtles, the grapefruit is winning..."

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