Question about choice of pattern

[Sudhir Bangera]

Hi David,
I would like to describe a routine real life scenario of our project meeting with coders (including me ), our Architect ( a genius whom we all look up to) and our project Manager (sadly who is not technical and doesnt know what design patterns are ). So our Architect explains to us the project design and rightfully suggests the design pattern to use like Factory pattern or Front Component etc and we all understand what he is talking about (which is the main advantage of design patterns in the first place). However due to his (our Project Manager's) ignorance...when this happens..he looks at our architect as if searching for a halo over his head and looks at us (poor coders) as if to ask us what the big deal about coding time etc when the pattern is already suggested to us ...
Anyway my question is -- Dont you agree that there is a lot of grey area between the choice of ideal pattern to be chosen as it depends on the purpose, time required to code, the complexity of the problem, skill level of the coders etc and if so, when and how do you think the tradeoff between the advantages and disadvantage should be made ?
Thank You.
Sudhir
SCJP2
SCWCD

[Guillaume Compagnon]

IMHO, the choice of one or other patterns is simply based on XPrience and what the architect feels.
Patterns objectives are well described, but sometime it s better not to follow a pattern because it makes the architecture complex and less performant.
it is only best for an architect to read books/articles and to understand a foreign architecture ... the most important is that the architect must understand what is exactly the technology used (advantages/drawback)
regards

[Tiger Scott]

I would agree with that. Patterns should only be correctly used and only when required- else it can lead to complex code- that can become a mainatince nightmare. IMHO- if you don't undersatnd patterns don't try to use them. The best way is to learn patterns- that is where a good experienced architect come in.
HTH
Sanjay

[Guillaume Compagnon]

The reason why I find "patterns books" good investment is that you need to read it several times, and each time, you see something new because your experience is growing up.
for my part, I d like to adapt design pattern to a specific problem, because I want to design a cache or a pool ...
my conclusion is : don't be afraid of architecture/DP books but don't believe that you will learn everything with just a reading.

[David Kane]

Sudhir,
Of course there are tradeoffs in any design. In my mind, patterns are a way of making sense of those tradeoffs. However, I think the situation you describe is less about technical knowledge, and more about the relationship of the architect to the project manager. The architect needs to communicate not just with the team to explain his decisions, but he needs to be able to communicate with the project manager as well. If he fails to set expectations correctly, the project manager could make decisions based on false assumptions that could cause pain for everyone involved. I usually wonder too when there is a perception of an "ignorant" PM if there are not important messages from the PM that are being lost on the architect and ther other members of the team.
Dave

Originally posted by Sudhir Bangera:
Hi David,
I would like to describe a routine real life scenario of our project meeting with coders (including me ), our Architect ( a genius whom we all look up to) and our project Manager (sadly who is not technical and doesnt know what design patterns are ). So our Architect explains to us the project design and rightfully suggests the design pattern to use like Factory pattern or Front Component etc and we all understand what he is talking about (which is the main advantage of design patterns in the first place). However due to his (our Project Manager's) ignorance...when this happens..he looks at our architect as if searching for a halo over his head and looks at us (poor coders) as if to ask us what the big deal about coding time etc when the pattern is already suggested to us ...
Anyway my question is -- Dont you agree that there is a lot of grey area between the choice of ideal pattern to be chosen as it depends on the purpose, time required to code, the complexity of the problem, skill level of the coders etc and if so, when and how do you think the tradeoff between the advantages and disadvantage should be made ?
Thank You.
Sudhir
SCJP2
SCWCD

------------------
David Kane
[e-mail]
Author of Software Architecture: Organizational Principles and Patterns
http://www.vraps.com
http://www.houseofyin.com

[Sudhir Bangera]

Thank you David, Sanjay and Guillaume for your insights.
Have a great day.
Sudhir