Pattern language
A pattern language is a method of describing good design practices within a field of expertise.
The term was coined by architect Christopher Alexander and popularized by his book A Pattern Language.
A pattern language is an attempt to express the deeper wisdom of what brings aliveness within a particular field of human endeavor, through a set of interconnected expressions arising from that wisdom.
Aliveness is one placeholder term for "the quality that has no name": a sense of wholeness, spirit, or grace, that while of varying form, is precise and empirically verifiable.
Some advocates of this design approach claim that ordinary people can use it to successfully solve very large, complex design problems.
Like all languages, a pattern language has vocabulary, syntax, and grammar -- but a pattern language applies to some complex activity other than communication.
External links
- Pattern language @ Wikipedia
