PLoP 2023 was held in cooperation with the ACM.
The Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP®) conference is a premier event for pattern authors and pattern enthusiasts to gather, discuss and learn more about patterns and software development. PLoP® conferences are promoted and sponsored by The Hillside Group. The Hillside Group, through PLoP® and other activities, promotes the use of patterns and pattern languages to record, analyze, and improve software and its development, and supports any new practices that help achieve these goals.
Preliminary versions of these papers went through writers' workshops at Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP) ’23 October 22–25, 2023, Allerton Park, Monticello, Illinois, USA. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission. Copyright is held by the authors.
ISBN: HILLSIDE 978-1-941652-19-0
Made in the USA
After three years of being organized remotely, the Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP) came back to the place of its origin, legendary Allerton Park, where it was established by The Hillside Group. In its 30th edition, it again gathered people who wish to improve the quality of life through designing and using social and technical systems in a more humane way, effectively articulating professional and other creative practices, and sharing this tacit knowledge more broadly. To achieve this, PLoP conferences promote the use of patterns and pattern languages, as well as the underlying theory of the nature of order. Originating in the work of Christopher Alexander on building architecture, these ideas have been further developed in computer science, fundamentally changing the perception of software development. Much of the pioneering work in this area originated at this and other PLoP conferences throughout the world.
Patterns and pattern languages have expanded to many other areas and PLoP 2023 continued to recognize this by accommodating 30 papers targeting learning, usage of mathematical tools, well-being and life organization, pattern history, reflection, and expression, culture and mythological aspects, marketing, and so on, as well as software development topics, such as organizational patterns, digital transformation, resource management, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and large language models, and even quantum computing.
All these papers underwent a two month open reviewing and mentoring process we call shepherding. At the conference, each paper was discussed in a writers' workshop, where a group of authors (and possibly additional participants) discusses each paper for about an hour in the presence of its author or authors, who, however, are only allowed to listen. These proceedings bring the final versions of 29 papers (one paper was withdrawn) revised after the conference according to what the authors learned in writers' workshops. The proceedings also include two focus group reports reviewed by the program committee members.
Apart from writers' workshops, the 30th PLoP had a really rich program with five keynotes, seven focus groups, six lightning talks, an art school and games, and even a short play built using drama patterns. The keynotes were very diverse and thought-provoking. Grady Booch joined us remotely and talked about a pattern language for the brain. Alistair Cockburn came to tell us how no one actually reads the patterns we write, which certainly made us think of how to make our patterns more digestible. Rebecca Wirfs-Brock and Lise Hvatum talked about the inspirational value of patterns. Indu Alagarsamy presented software resilience patterns inspired by the real world. Eduardo Guerra talked about using hypothesis engineering to manage uncertainty in software architectures.
In focus groups, participants gained practical experience with sharing cherished qualities of pattern languages, fearless change patterns, a pattern language for nurturing an exciting life, academic writing patterns, learning about organizational patterns from drama patterns, prompt patterns for large language models, and sustainable productivity patterns. Lightning talks brought a five-minute insight into new frontiers in pattern languages of practices, how conflicts are what make patterns alive, how pattern languages can be brought through pattern cards, objects, coins, songs, and manga, how serious games seriously miss patterns, how pattern language creation is rooted in Husserl's Phenomenology, and adding emojis in code.
PLoP 2023 attracted attendees ranging from those who stood upon establishing this series of conferences to newcomers. We all interacted closely in a typical inclusive PLoP environment, where everyone feels welcome. All in all, PLoP 2023 proved that this series of conferences should continue.
Valentino Vranić and Kyle Brown, PLoP 2023 Program Chairs
"A Pattern Language for the Brain" by Grady Booch
"The Take-Home Value of a Pattern is Its Name & Other Observations from 30 Years of Patterns Use" by Alistair Cockburn
"Go Build Your Thing—and in the Process Inspire Others to Do the Same" by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock and Lise Hvatum
"Software Resilience Patterns: Ideas from the Real World" by Indu Alagarsamy
"Using Hypotheses Engineering to Manage Uncertainty in Software Architectures" by Eduardo Guerra
"CheriSharing: Sharing Cherished Qualities of Pattern Languages" by Sawami Shibata, Kento Takamura, and Takashi Iba
"Fearless Change Patterns Game & App: Taking your patterns to the next level" by Mary Lynn Manns
"Future-Self Immersion with Using A Pattern Language for Nurturing an Exciting Life" by Rio Nitta, Takako Kanai, Mizuki Ota, Sae Adachi, and Takashi Iba
"Improving Your Papers with Academic Writing Patterns" by Sae Adachi and Takashi Iba
"Learning about Organizational Patterns from Drama Patterns" by Valentino Vranić, Aleksandra Vranić, and Branislava Vranić
"Prompt Patterns for Large Language Models" by Doug Schmidt
"Sustainable Productivity Patterns" by Ceci Fernandes and Antonio Gerent (Panda)
"New Frontiers in Pattern Languages of Practices" by Takashi Iba
"Conflicts Make Patterns Alive" by Valentino Vranić
"Exploring New Ways of Expressing and Delivering Pattern Languages: Endeavors of Pattern Card, Object, Coin, Song, and Manga" by Takashi Iba
"Serious Games Seriously Miss Patterns" by Branislava Vranić
"Philosophical Foundations of Pattern Language Creation: Rooted in the "Science of Essence" in Husserl's Phenomenology" by Takashi Iba
"Adding Emojis in Code" by Eduardo Guerra
| Program Chairs |
Valentino Vranić Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia |
Kyle Brown IBM, USA |
|---|---|---|
| Conference Chairs |
Richard Gabriel Dreamsongs, USA |
Joseph Yoder The Refactory, Inc., USA |
| Bootcamp |
Rebecca Wirfs-Brock Wirfs-Brock Associates, USA |
Joseph Yoder The Refactory Inc., USA |
| Games & Art School |
Christian Kohls TH Köln, Germany |
Rebecca Rikner Uppsala University Hospital |
| Submission System |
Michael Weiss Carleton University, Canada |