An Introduction to Design Patterns, part I

Publication: C++ Builder Developer's Journal
Issue: Volume 8, Number 8, August 2004

In this 5 page article I introduce the reader to UML class diagrams and the custom designed TFileObject class and its descendants that will be used my ‘pattern’ articles. At the time of publication there were not many books on design patterns, but the books that were available analysed the patterns independently of each other. This made it difficult for a reader to appreciate the subtle differences between the designs. I have filled that gap by using a set of core code for all of my discussions and thus making it easier to see each of the designs as it relates to a core set of code.

A design pattern focuses on a recurring architectural theme and is at a level of abstraction higher than that of single classes or instances. This is quite a well-to-do definition, but what does it mean? It means that my next series of articles will focus more on the structure of the code rather than on what the code is trying to accomplish.