from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
design pattern
<programming> A description of an {object-oriented design}
technique which names, abstracts and identifies aspects of a
design structure that are useful for creating an
object-oriented design. The design pattern identifies
{classes} and {instances}, their roles, collaborations and
responsibilities. Each design pattern focuses on a particular
object-oriented design problem or issue. It describes when it
applies, whether it can be applied in the presence of other
design constraints, and the consequences and trade-offs of its
use.
Home
(http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/patterns/patterns.html).
["Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented
Software", Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John
Vlissides].
(1997-07-21)