Analysis Patterns - Reusable Object Models

Posted on November 03, 2009

Among the resources I enjoy browsing online is Martin Fowler’s own website (www.martinfowler.com) which contains a wealth of information in the form of blogs, articles etc. Some time ago I began to read the category of the articles section that is dedicated to the Analysis Patterns book and found the patterns described interested me enough to invest in a copy of the book.

Software engineering has become awash with patterns since the publication of ‘Design Patterns - Elements of Reusable Object-Orientated Software ‘ way back in 1994. My own bookshelf contains no less than 11 books dedicated to the subject but of them Analysis Patterns stands out because it is the only one that focuses on modelling patterns as opposed to software design patterns.

The analysis patterns are described by initially outlining the context of the modelling problem and then the solution. The book separates analysis patterns into different domains including accountability, accounting, trading etc. but I found that, as mentioned in the foreword, all the analysis pattern’s were familiar to some degree.

Having spent several years working with CRM and workflow solutions the Accountability patterns were very familiar. Despite this familiarity, and perhaps due to this familiarity, I still found the material interesting and informative. I actually find this to be the case with most books on patterns; that is they are very familiar and in a lot of ways don’t bring anything new to light but the manner in which they are laid out in black and white brings greater clarity to the problem and solution. The manner in which Martin communicates through the book allows you to share his thought process as he develops the solutions he presents.

I would strongly recommend reading through the analysis patterns Martin has published on his website and if you like them, invest in a copy of the book.