I nearly forgot about this today till I was reminded. I nearly missed out on what turned out to be one of the best talks on Software Engineering I have heard. This was talk 3 of Paul Clement's seminar series on Software Architecture. This link has the lecture schedule and slides.

Why this talk worked for me:
- I got my first ever introduction to patterns and tactics. Yes, I am somewhat lacking in software engineering education and reading. I did not know patterns till yesterday. I still haven't used any but I now have a pretty decent idea.
- I like the way intuition is captured, defined, documented, and re-used again and again in architecture patterns. I no longer look down upon the software design and architecture process as I earlier inadvertently did. My own experience and a constant nagging curiosity were the main reason I decided to attend this seminar series as a first remedial step. I have a renewed respect for all this and I think I understand the advantages.
- Paul is a very good speaker. For a 'drab and uncool' topic like this, he infuses a lot of energy, passion, and humour into his talk.
- A very interesting QA session at the end.

Architecture Patterns essentially have 4 'things': 1) structural elements, 2) interaction mechanisms, 3) defining topology, and 4) semantic constraints. You also need to be able to say when and why a pattern is called for. Makes sense. I will look up pattern catalogs in the future.

Unrelated: And oh yeah, I feel a renewed pity for senseless/pointless Microsoft and/or Windows bashing.

Tags: architecture, seminars, software
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