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Incorporating Functional Design Patterns In Software Development |
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Yoran Maxim Bosman
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Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
When developing software, clients often ask for the same kind of functionality which solves a certain problem they are faced with. Reuse of solutions for recurring problems is possible at many levels. The functional level has not been given as much attention as the technical level. It is wasteful to engineer similar functionality from scratch every time it is required. Therefore the concept of Functional Design Patterns was identified to describe recurring problems and solutions of applications.
From interviews it became clear that currently there is no unified way in which the Functional Design Patterns are applied during the software development process. Although a small library of Functional Design Patterns exist, it is not clear how to integrate them in the development process. Every functional designer decides for himself how and when the pattern repository is consulted and which parts to use.
This thesis proposes a method for the incorporation of Functional Design Patterns in the software development process. The goal of the method is to enable functional and technical designers to make more efficient use of Functional Design Patterns at different phases of development. The method does not focus solely on functional design but ranges from acquisition all the way to maintenance.
The method was developed by combining the state of the practice with an analysis of the state of the literature regarding the integration of design patterns. It provides guidelines for recognizing the applicability of patterns using conceptual decomposition, pattern selection, the combination of multiple patterns in a functional design, the transition to technical design and defines the responsible persons. The result is a systematic method that clarifies the when, where, how and what questions regarding Functional Design Patterns and software development for all parties involved.
This systematic approach to develop software using Functional Design Patterns is explored and demonstrated with an example.
Application of the method in real world projects was not feasible during the execution of this research, therefore empirical evaluation of the presented method remains future work. The method is validated by matching it against the functional reuse approaches of other organisations and a review by designers which showed their support for the method.
We believe that the use of the presented method to incorporate Functional Design Patterns in software development will lead to an improved and more efficient use of Functional Design Patterns in particular at Quinity. Novice designers will know when, where and how to use Functional Design Patterns in the development process thereby bridging a large gap between them and more experienced designers.
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