SOA Pattern Publishing - why?!

Hi all,

Recently I have been posting a lot of candidate patterns on soapatterns.org, the pattern-related site of soasystems.com.

I was a matter of time before someone might ask "what are you doing and why are you doing it?". Well, it happened. Anyway, the reason why I wrote this post is because people ask why use soa patterns, why document soa patterns and there's only one simple reason for me doing this.

SOA patterns are proven solutions for common problems. Some of the candidate patterns I have documented may seem like open doors or a shot at an empty goal - but that's a good thing actually. What it means is that people recognize a certain solution for a problem, to actually be a good or at least a viable solution. And if people recognize the structure of the solution, does that not mean that they have just recognized a pattern in what they are seeing?

SOA patterns are not rocket science. SOA patterns are not smart or unique solutions. They are merely a common way of fixing a problem that we've encountered more than just once.

Does that mean it should not be documented? I don't think so. By documenting it, I hope to save other people's time and effort; because if someone recognized a documented soa pattern as something that can be applied to their problem, with or without modifications, that particular goal is reached.

Why am I publishing candidate patterns and not patterns? Well, it's in the definition of the soa pattern. For it to be a pattern it must be proven - as in - used in the field by more than one person. A site like soapatterns.org manages exactly that. This is also why I'm asking with every candidate pattern published by myself, to get others to testify that they have used the same pattern or a similar approach for real too. Because only if a group of people would testify they use it, it can be considered a pattern instead of a candidate pattern.

Keep watching this blog for a couple of more patterns to come. Presently finalizing patterns on rules normalization and rule layers and a couple of more service inventory related patterns. And if you've done something similar to what's described in one of my pattern candidates - or any others in the list - be sure to let the people at soapatterns.org know that you did. This way you, the community, can contribute to the field.

Regards,

-Roger