PAPER = A Data Flow Pattern Language AUTHOR = Dragos-Anton Manolescu (daman@ncsa.uiuc.edu) ADDRESS = NCSA, 5319 BI, 405 North Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 PHONE = (217)244-0641 ABSTRACT = This paper discusses several data flow related patterns. Unlike other studies which adopt a monolithic approach, the analysis identifies 4 different patterns: data flow architecture, payloads, module data protocol and out of band and in band partitions. Refining the granularity of the study allows to provide more details than the previous attempts and helps to identify the additional patterns. Besides the many issues addressed in the context of data flow architectures, the paper provides a detailed study of the other 3 patterns, shows their general applicability and the relationships to other software patterns. Examples from many different domains illustrate their use; several application-specific variants are also discussed. SUBJECT = Architectural patterns KEYWORDS = Data flow, payloads, module-data protocol, partitions