In 2021 and 2023, I challenged myself to publish a blog post on a specific theme every day from December 1st to December 24th. The 2021 theme was Advent of Bloggers, in which I discussed a blog I liked in each post. In 2023, I wrote my Advent of Technical Writing series, in which I published a post a day about technical writing.
I generally struggle with writing challenges. The Advent series are the exception because I choose a topic that I think I have a lot to write about. This helps keep me motivated.
This year, I was struggling to figure out what to write about. Then, while drinking a coffee and looking out the window of one of my favourite bookstores, I had an idea: Advent of Patterns. I set the book aside that I had purchased – an interesting book about communication and how to explain things – and started to take notes. I came up with a few ideas and, with each one, have grown confidence in the idea of an advent series on patterns.
Between December 1st and December 24th, I will aim to publish [1] one blog post a day on software and design patterns. A “pattern” is a design I have noticed in several places. An example of a software pattern is precomputation, which describes how pre-computing values can make applications faster at runtime. An example of a design pattern is auto-fill, which takes information from your clipboard and automatically pastes it in the correct place.
I have been writing sporadically about patterns throughout the year. Indeed, I found myself writing about patterns in my Advent of Technical Writing series last year, too: callout boxes that are used to draw attention to a point, placeholders that are used as a reminder that information should be filled out or reviewed, and more.
I enjoy the challenge of thinking about an abstract concept and how it applies to different disciplines and problem spaces. As I sat in the bookshop drinking a coffee and gazing out the window, I found joy in thinking about what design patterns I have seen, what they mean, and places they are used.
The series will be a mix of the technical and of design. I may even talk about communication patterns too! I have at least one communication pattern – sentences to help ground you in thinking through how to explain something – that I am keen to write about.
The idea to write about patterns was inspired by two sources. First, Maggie Appleton’s website, which has a devoted section to design patterns. I have enjoyed reading her patterns series, especially the Computational Notebooks post. Second, the IndieWeb wiki, which aims to document design patterns in the wild that relate to personal websites and sharing content on the web. Thank you both to Maggie and the IndieWeb for the inspiration!
I have been struggling a bit with my mental health recently, so I cannot guarantee I’ll write every day. But, as I always strive to do on this blog, I will try my best!
I look forward to thinking about and sharing some software and design patterns I notice over the coming weeks.
