ChiliPLoP '98

 

The ChiliPLoP 98 patterns conference was held March 17-20, 1998 in Wickenburg. Arizona, about 60 miles outside of Phoenix.

This conference was designed to meet the special needs of two groups in the software community, pattern newcomers and pattern experts, with two parallel tracks.

For those who are wondering what this patterns stuff is all about, ChiliPLoP offered the ultimate pattern writing experience! Under the guidance of stellar pattern contributors Bruce Anderson, Jim Coplien, and Dick Gabriel, newcomers learned about patterns and how to write them.

I attended the special newcomers track at ChiliPLoP. This track provided something different, but sorely needed in the patterns community, a "boot camp" for newcomers. This special track was a training, mentoring, experiencing activity, where participants were immersed in patterns and emerge with an enlarged perspective and their first pattern! There is no better way to learn what patterns are all about than by writing one yourself.

This exciting adventure was enhanced by the interaction with many pattern notables. These include the leader of the group, other helpers who provided guidance for the pattern writing, and a mentor, for one-on-one support -- so essential in the beginning. I had the fortunate experience of being instructed by Dick Gabriel, who is highly regarded in the Patterns Community.

In parallel, ChiliPLoP featured a "hot topics" track for those more experienced patterns folks who gathered and tackled hot issues. Participants in this track chose one hot topic. Each hot topic participant was also a mentor for a new writer, to help guide the learning process and provide inspiration for pattern creation.

Hot Topics:

* Configuration Management Patterns
* Elementary Patterns and their Role in Instruction
* Organizational Patterns
* Patterns as Framework Documentation
* Patterns of Time in Information
* TelePLoP '98

My ChiliPLoP Patterns

Even though I had written a couple of patterns prior to the conference, these were the first that I had submitted for review.

The review experience was fantastic. The rules for the workshop are very formal in their procedure. One of the most important things we learned is that a pattern must stand by itself. The workshop provides no opportunity to explain the pattern, instead, the writer just becomes a "fly-on-the-wall" after reading part of their pattern. During this time, the writer hears what others have to say about the pattern and what they think it means.

One of the most gratifying experiences in the workshop is when someone says: "I had a similar experience" or "This could apply to…". These comments help to validate the pattern as well as to make it more generic.

For my pattern, I started out by writing a pattern for holding a pattern workshop when the participants are not physically located in the same location. My thought was that this would be a very important pattern for use at CTG where people are located all over.

At first I tried to do it as one pattern. It soon became apparent that it was becoming very complex and not very easily understood. After talking with Dick about the pattern, I determined that the pattern was really several patterns. Not being familiar with multi-patterns at the time, I split the pattern in to three:

Pattern Receipt is a pattern on how a pattern can be received from a remote location

Pattern Distribution is a pattern on how the pattern can be distributed to those participating in the workshop

Teleconference Pattern Workshop is a pattern on how a pattern workshop can be conducted using a teleconference procedure.

The workshop, after reviewing my patterns, suggested that the Teleconference Pattern Workshop pattern is really multiple patterns and needs to be refined. I agree and hope that others will add to it. It was also suggested that all three become part of a larger pattern language on the CTG culture requiring communications that are not face to face. I also agree and hope that others will contribute their ideas.

My ChiliPLoP experiences

I had a wonderful time at ChiliPLoP and wish to thank Linda Rising for putting on a great conference. Linda will also be attending the ETVT conference this year with a keynote speech on "Patterns in a Knowledge Environment". I would encourage others to attend next year’s ChiliPLoP and join the community!

Where do we go from here.

Here are some thoughts from Linda Rising after ChiliPLoP:

Hi Guys,

I'm glad you enjoyed ChiliPLoP! We were lucky on the weather -- the week following, we had some cool, rainy days -- not usually something we have to worry about :-)!

What's next? Good question! I would say:

Get on the patterns listserver -- you can talk to other folks who are probably struggling with the same issues you are:

http://hillside.net/patterns/Lists.html patterns-discussion is the most popular.

Then, keep reading! Your newcomer track probably pointed out several sources for patterns but there are lots of publications now that treat the subject:

http://hillside.net/patterns/books/ -- patterns books

http://hillside.net/patterns/papers/ -- patterns papers

http://hillside.net/patterns/conferences/ -- conferences

PLoPs are held for pattern writers. You might look at OOPSLA '98

http://www.acm.org/sigplan/oopsla/

There are probably several tutorials, presentations, panels, and workshops on patterns -- it's a great conference, one of the biggest and many pattern notables will be there -- I'll be there, too!

Lots of journals also carry patterns information:

C++ Report -- Cope and John Vlissides write patterns columns http://www.sigs.com/publications/cppr/

Linda