[sdiy] Design Patterns

[Don Tillman]

One of the modern trends in software engineering is called Design
Patterns.  

What are Design Patterns?  They're a catalog of proven techniques for
dealing with commonly occuring situations in software development.
The idea was taken from a series of books by architect Christopher
Alexander, who noted that there were time tested approaches to solving
problems in architecture and it was high time someone cataloged them.

(That's a very brief summary.  There are better descriptions here:
http://www.hillside.net/patterns) 

A Design Pattern is presented by listing:
  the name of the pattern, and the category
  the motivation, a description of a problem to be solved
  the applicable context 
  issues of concern
  the solution and explanation
  examples
  consequences  
  a list of related patterns

So I was thinking... Is this applicable to analog design? 

And I thought about it...
And I thought about it some more...
And I said, "Hell yeah, we've been doing this for years!"  

I mean, take a look some of the classic literature in our field.  Like
AN-31 (National Semiconductors's application note, "Op amp Circuit
Collection").  Or the "Ideas for Design" section of Electronic Design
or EDN.  Or the apps section of the CA3080 data sheet.  Or Hal
Chamberlin's "Musical Applications of Microproessors".  These are only
slightly less formal analog versions of software Design Patterns.

Or for a slightly more formal example, patents.

I guess I think it's strange that software folks had to go to one
maverick in the field of architecture to find something that us analog
guys have always done.  

Or maybe I'm kicking myself for not having thought of it first.  (I
could be wicked famous right now!)

Or maybe we should be taking Design Patterns to heart and present
design ideas just a little more formally in a common format. 

Thoughts?

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don at till.com
http://www.till.com