Preface to CD
As we were writing
Design Patterns
, we knew the patterns we were describing had value because they
had proven themselves in many different contexts. Our hope was that other software engineers would
benefit from these patterns as much as we had. Now, three years after its debut, we find ourselves
both grateful and thrilled by how the book has been received. Lots of people use it. Many tell us
the patterns have helped them design and build better systems. Many others have been inspired to
write their own patterns, and the pool of patterns is growing. And many have commented on what might
be improved about the book and what they would like to see in the future.
A recurring comment in all the feedback has been how well-suited the book is to hypertext. There are
numerous cross-references, and chasing references is something a computer can do very well. Since
much of the software development process takes place on computers, it would be natural to have a book
like ours as an on-line resource. Observations like these got us excited about the potential of this
medium. So when Mike Hendrickson approached us about turning the book into a CD-ROM, we jumped at the
chance.
Two years and several megabytes of e-mail later, we're delighted that you can finally obtain this
edition, the
Design Patterns CD
, and put its unique capabilities to work. Now you can access a
pattern from your computer even when someone has borrowed your book. You can search the text for key
words and phrases. It's also considerably easier to incorporate parts of it in your own on-line
documentation. And if you travel with a notebook computer, you can keep the book handy without
lugging an extra two pounds of paper.
Hypertext is a relatively new publishing venue, one we are learning to use just like everyone else.
If you have ideas on how to improve this edition, please send them to design-patterns-cd@cs.uiuc.edu.
If you have questions or suggestions concerning the patterns themselves, send them to the gang-of-4-
patterns@cs.uiuc.edu mailing list. (To subscribe, send e-mail to gang-of-4-patterns@cs.uiuc.edu with
the subject "subscribe".) This list has quite a few readers, and many of them can answer questions as
well as we can – and usually a lot faster! Also, be sure to check out the Patterns Home Page at
http://hillside.net/patterns/. There you'll find other books and mailing lists on patterns, not to
mention conference information and patterns published on-line.
This CD entailed considerable design and implementation work. We are indebted to Mike Hendrickson
and the team at Addison-Wesley for their on-going encouragement and support. Jeff Helgesen, Jason
Jones, and Daniel Savarese garner many thanks for
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