What is common between the words blueprint, scaffolding, and maintenance? These software development terms have been borrowed from the world of building construction and architecture. However, one of the most influential terms comes from a treatise on architecture and urban planning written in 1977 by the leading Austrian architect Christopher Alexander and his team consisting of Murray Silverstein, Sara Ishikawa, and several others.
The term pattern came in vogue after their seminal work, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (volume 2 in a five-book series), based on the astonishing insight that users know about their buildings more than any architect ever could. A pattern refers to an everyday problem and ...
