by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides

isbn: 0201633612
subject: Nonfiction, Computing, Design
finished: 9/14/2001

Design Patterns is based on a deep observation about how software works; because it resonates with many programmers' experiences, it has become a popular and influential book. The observation is that there are problems and solutions that occur over and over in code we write, but that these "patterns" are usually a little too abstract to be expressed directly in a programming language. The point of the book is not to advocate direct support for design patterns, but rather to name, identify, and describe them in detail. This serves several purposes. First, it gives developers a mental shorthand for referring to common programming idioms. Second, it facilitates communication between developers in conversation and through documentation by providing a common vocabulary for talking about patterns. These things are important because it is often the case that the implementations of several patterns look similar or identical in the code: the pattern, then, succinctly describes the developer's intent.