Teaching object-oriented development with emphasis on pattern application

Abstract

One of the most significant recent developments in software engineering has been the widespread adoption of design patterns. Design patterns enable software developers to incorporate well proven solutions to design problems in their software. This makes their software more flexible and reusable. Design patterns, however, are not easy to learn. They are often presented in complex contexts with partially coded examples. Further, there is no standard naming convention, with designers using very different names for quite similar patterns. These problems limit the accessibility of design patterns to beginning students. In this paper we propose a teaching method to help in the understanding of design patterns and their usage by developing fully coded examples (in Java), of certain design patterns in a particular domain. The method centres around developing an application using a framework which has been constructed using patterns as the central plank of the constuction. The students are then required to develop a related application using the same framework. This approach attempts to make it easier for students to relate to patterns, and to see the link between design patterns and their implementation via these coded frameworks. The aim is a better appreciation of design patterns and a clearer understanding of how to apply them in developing object-oriented solutions.