Whats the difference between a pattern and a programming idiom?
A pattern can characterize an idiom, along with descriptions of how, when, and why to use it. • Can patterns describe standard OOP concepts like inheritance? Sure; similar answer. • Are patterns programming-language-independent? Some (even most) are. • What’s the difference between a pattern and a data structure? The designs described in (only) some patterns consist of specialized data structures and related techniques. • Why bother writing patterns that just boil down to advice my grandmother would give me? Because some patterns are so good and useful that even your grandmother knows them. Writing them down makes the context, value and implications of the advice clearer than your grandmother probably did. • Must all patterns be so [low-level / high-level / general / specific / abstract / concrete] as [SOME PATTERN]? Of course not. • What is the theoretical basis of Patterns? No formal basis in the usual sense. Patterns can express design notions stemming from all sorts of theoretical
