Pattern Languages of Programming

"Pattern Languages of Programming" is the name of a group of annual conferences. The purpose of these conferences is to develop and refine the art of software (design) patterns, cf. design patterns (computer science). Most of the effort focuses on developing a textual presentation of a pattern such that it becomes easy to understand and apply. This is typically done in a writers workshop setting, also cf. authors' conference.

The flagship conference

The flagship conference is called the Pattern Languages of Programming conference, abbreviated as PLoP. PLoP has been held in the U.S.A. since 1994cite journal | first=Steven | last=Berczuk | title=Finding Solutions Through Pattern Languages | journal= IEEE Computer | publisher=IEEE | volume=27 | issue=12 | pages=75–76 | month=December | year=1994] . Until 2004 it was held annually at Allerton Park in Monticello, Illinois, a property of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Since then, its location has alternated between Allerton park and being co-located with OOPSLA, a large computer science conference.

Notable people who chaired the conference in the past include Ward Cunningham, Richard Gabriel, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides and Kent Beck.

PLoP (and several other Pattern Languages of Programming conferences) are sponsored by the Hillside Group, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that holds the PLoP trademark and the rights to the conference.

Other PLoP conferences

* [http://hillside.net/europlop/ EuroPLoP] , held in Germany since 1995
* [http://hillside.net/chiliplop/ ChiliPLoP] , held in the U.S.
* SugarLoafPLoP, held in Brazil
* KoalaPLoP, held in Australia or New Zealand
* [http://www.vikingplop.org/ VikingPLoP] , held in the Scandinavian countries

Publications

The conference proceedings are typically published locally as technical reports of a sponsoring university. EuroPLoP papers have been published annually by the German publisher "Universitätsverlag Konstanz". After the conference, authors are given the chance to submit a revised paper for publication in the book series "Pattern Languages of Program Design" by Addison Wesley.

In 2007, an academic journal was started, called "Transactions on Pattern Languages of Programming." The editors-in-chief are James Noble and Ralph Johnson and the European editor is Uwe Zdun. The journal is published by Springer-Verlag.

References

External links

* The homepage of the [http://hillside.net/conferences/plop.htm Pattern Languages of Programming] conferences, organized by the Hillside Group
* The homepage of the [http://hillside.net/europlop/ European Pattern Languages of Programming] conference, organized by Hillside Europe
* Springer Verlag's homepage for the [http://www.springer.com/home/computer/lncs?SGWID=5-164-2-470309-0 Transactions on Pattern Languages of Programming] journal
* Ward's wiki [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HistoryOfPatterns HistoryOfPatterns] including how PLoP came about