Enterprise Patterns and MDA

"Enterprise Patterns and MDA: Building Better Software with Archetype Patterns and UML" by Jim Arlow and Ila Neustadt is a comprehensive guide to developing software for the business world. Here is a detailed overview of the book:

Key Themes

1. Archetype Patterns: The book introduces the concept of archetype patterns, which are universal, recurring "things" that can be customized to fit specific business environments. These patterns include examples like Customer, Product, and Order.
2. Model Driven Architecture (MDA): The authors delve into MDA, a methodology that leverages UML (Unified Modeling Language) to drive the development process. This approach emphasizes the use of models to generate executable code, thereby increasing automation and reducing errors.
3. Literate Modeling: The book discusses literate modeling, which combines traditional visual modeling with narrative text to provide an accessible business context. This technique helps in communicating UML models to a broader audience.

Plot Summary

The book begins by introducing the foundational concepts and techniques, including archetype patterns and MDA. It then moves on to a detailed catalog of archetype patterns, each chapter focusing on a specific archetype (e.g., Party, Order, Customer). Each archetype pattern includes a business context, a high-level overview model, and descriptions of the related archetypes, their properties, and related activities.

Critical Reception

The book has received positive reviews for its clarity and usefulness in addressing the challenges of developing business applications. Reviewers have praised the authors' writing style, noting that it is easy to read and understand, even for those without extensive technical backgrounds. The pattern catalog is seen as a valuable resource for developers, providing reusable solutions to common problems in business-software design.

One reviewer on Coderanch noted that the authors' writing style is flawless up to page 116, and the pattern catalog is divided in a logical manner around different archetypes. The reviewer also mentioned that the book is a nice resource to have on your bookshelf, especially when moving to a new problem domain on a new project.

Additional Insights

• Customization: The book teaches readers how to customize any archetype pattern to reflect the idiosyncrasies of their own business environment. This customization is facilitated by the clearly documented relationships between the patterns, allowing developers to create executable code manually or tap into the power of MDA and UML for maximum automation.
• Value of Patterns: The authors highlight the significant value of the patterns included in the book. A blue-chip company recently valued a similar but less mature set of patterns at hundreds of thousands of dollars, underscoring the practical application and potential return on investment of these archetype patterns.

Overall, "Enterprise Patterns and MDA" is a seminal work in the field of software development for business applications, offering a comprehensive approach to leveraging archetype patterns and MDA to build better software.