A Model for Meta-Specification and Cataloging of Software Patterns

In the last years, the patterns community grew at a very fast pace. A lot of pattern languages and pattern systems emerged. Some of them are very popular, some of them are not. The patterns in each pattern language are described using different templates and the samples are written using different programming languages. This produces a considerable impedance mismatch among all of them. Currently, an abstract and standardized way for specifying software patterns doesn’t exist. There isn’t any single meta-definition model that governs patterns description. This leads to the problem of finding a way to represent patterns in a self-contained format independent of the programming languages and execution platform. The creation of a language for pattern meta-specification and a catalog of patterns from different pattern languages described using this language is a clear step towards the solution of this problem. Additionally, the creation of a web-based visualization tool for the catalog makes this knowledge available to the world, allowing searching, linking and using the patterns in the catalog. In this paper, we will present the results of our research work on meta-specification and cataloging of software patterns.