Business Patterns for Software Developers

Allan Kelly
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 978-1119999249

Nat Pryce, one of the authors of Growing Object Oriented Software Guided by Tests, is quoted as saying that pattern books generally have two sections. First is there is a highly interesting preamble, then come the patterns. Allan Kelly has certainly written a patterns book in the traditional two parts, the difference is that both parts are very interesting indeed. The description of software company lifecycles was both informative and sensational to read and is by far my favorite part of the book.

I had genuine trouble putting the book down. Gone is the often dry pattern descriptions common among other patterns authors. What give this book the edge for me is that I’m learning about something other than software and I am easily able to relate the patterns to my own experiences. This is the first time I’ve really understood what a pattern language is and, like all good patterns books, it taught me names for, and gave me a greater understanding of the patterns I see around me. It helped me understand the forces and the solutions in greater detail.

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