: '''pattern''' (pàt´ern) ''noun'' : 1. '''a.''' A model or an original used as an archetype. '''b.''' A person or thing considered worthy of imitation. : 2. A plan, diagram, or model to be followed in making things: a dress pattern. : 3. A representative sample; a specimen. See synonyms at ideal. : 4. '''a.''' An artistic or decorative design: a paisley pattern. See synonyms at figure. '''b.''' A design of natural or accidental origin: patterns of bird formations. : 5. A consistent, characteristic form, style, or method, as:. '''a.''' A composite of traits or features characteristic of an individual or a group: one's pattern of behavior. '''b.''' Form and style in an artistic work or body of artistic works. : 6. '''a.''' The configuration of gunshots upon a target that is used as an indication of skill in shooting. '''b.''' The distribution and spread, around a targeted region, of spent shrapnel, bomb fragments, or shot from a shotgun. : 7. Enough material to make a complete garment. : 8. A test pattern. : 9. The flight path of an aircraft about to land: a flight pattern. See DesignPatterns for the predominant definition of ''design-pattern'' used in software design. ---- '''Discussion:''' ''From CommunityLifeCycle where the (mis)use of the word "pattern" caused some potential confusion. Or maybe this is about what constitutes appropriate content for Wiki. Suddenly I'm not sure -- PhilGoodwin'' [This] is not a "pattern", at least in the sense of ChristopherAlexander's work, the DesignPatterns book, and the PortlandPatternRepository. The life-cycle above is an interesting and possibly useful description of several communities. It is not "a solution to a problem in a context". It does not seem to fit any other definition of "pattern" commonly used in this community. Not all good ideas are patterns. -- CliffordAdams At least one person objects to my objection above. Perhaps the old definitions of "pattern" are too confining. Perhaps the C2 wiki should become a "good idea" rather than just a "pattern" repository. In any case, I think it is proper to point out that "pattern" has a specific meaning to many people here. -- CliffordAdams (who encourages more discussion on this topic, and would love to learn something) ---- I'd call CommunityLifeCycle a descriptive pattern as opposed to a prescriptive pattern, in that it abstracts a description of ways in which problems have been solved or not solved in a variety of contexts. In some ways, now that I think of it it's very similar to the ProjectLifeCycle described in most SoftwareEngineering textbooks. -- LarryPrice It was something I noticed after the fact, but it's not so strange given that any project involving more than a few people starts to form a community. And lets not forget about patterns capturing the QualityWithoutaName. Lest we forget, Qwan is an aspect of living communities. ---- Patterns are generally confused with PatternForm. Many non-patterns can and have been written in PatternForm. It would seem patterns are something more than the structure imposed on them. Then, a ''pattern'' could be considered to be a story with ThreeExamples. This is a useful distinction to make because stories are usually interesting in their own right. I suspect this could lead to an internally consistent set of stories. This set might be referred to a StoryLanguage, a much weaker cousin of a PatternLanguage. Patterns are a subset of stories. -- SunirShah I think that a pattern has to describe a problem and a solution as well, at very least, to be a Pattern. -- PhilGoodwin ---- I wonder if maybe the alexandrine form and it's derivatives are a bit too constrained of a definition of patterns, clearly CommunityLifeCycle is not a pattern in the classical sense, yet it does expose PatternsAndAntiPatterns in a way that seems productive. Perhaps we need investigate not just the MetaPatterns of DefinitionOfPattern and ValueOfPatterns but dig down into the roots of what makes a pattern, at least in the software world. -- LarryPrice maybe PatternPrimitives ---- Aside from any DefinitionOfPattern, could we ask what is the ValueOfPatterns? How do they contribute and what do they contribute? ---- See: IdeaForm -- RandyStafford (03/20/2000) ---- CategoryDefinition