Abstract
If you pick up the masterpiece, "A Pattern Language", by Christopher Alexander et. al, you will discover a book filled with engaging photographs, hand-drawn sketches, big bold, hard-to-miss text, memorable stories and scholarly notes for the academically minded. One can quickly "surf" this book by focusing only on pattern titles, images and headlines or one can dive deep into the book by reading the detailed text of each pattern. In short, A Pattern Language uses a timeless way of communicating, a form that engages people and provides numerous pathways for accessing the knowledge. As authors of software-related pattern languages, we must understand what it takes to make our own works endure. In this talk, we will analyze the form and content of real-world software patterns/pattern languages, looking for what makes them succeed or fail at engaging the reader and providing knowledge pathways. If you are interested in crafting great pattern languages,this talk will help you discover some essential ingredients.

Biography

*Joshua Kerievsky* is founder of Industrial Logic , Inc., an early pioneer and expert in Extreme Programming (XP), author of the best-selling, Jolt Cola Award-winning book Refactoring to Patterns , thought leader behind Industrial XP, a state-of-the-art synthesis of XP and Agile Project Management and an innovator of Agile eLearning, which helps organizations “Scale Agility Faster.” Joshua has over 20 years of experience in software development and loves coaching agile project communities, helping executives understand and manage technical debt, leading excellent workshops, and building software products (because it enables him to “walk the agile talk” as an entrepreneur, manager,customer and programmer).