But, although they use these patterns purposefully, they often use them informally and nearly unconsciously. This book organizes this substantial emerging "folklore" of system design -- with its rich language of system description -- and closes the gap between the useful abstractions (constructs and patterns) of system design and the current models, notations and tools. It identifies useful patterns clearly, gives examples, compares them, and evaluates their utility in various settings -- allowing readers to develop a repertoire of useful techniques that goes beyond the single-minded current fads. KEY TOPICS: Examines the ways in which architectural issues can impact software design; shows how to design new systems in principled ways using well-understood architectural paradigms; emphasizes informal descriptions, touching lightly on formal notations and specifications, and the tools that support them; explains how to understand and evaluate the design of existing software systems from an architectural perspective; and presents concrete examples of actual system architectures that can serve as models for new designs. MARKET: For professional software developers looking for new ideas about system organization.

    With over ninety illustrations, this book traces the history of the chair as we know it from its crudest beginnings up through the modern office variety. Drawing on anecdotes, literary references, and famous designs, Galen Cranz documents our ongoing love affair with the chair and how its evolution has been governed not by a quest for comfort or practicality, but by the designation of status.Relating much of the modern era's rampant back pain to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle spent in traditional seating, Cranz goes beyond traditional ergonomic theory to formulate new design principles that challenge the way we think and live. A farsighted and innovative approach to our most intimate habitat, this book offers guidelines that will assist readers in choosing a chair-and designing a lifestyle-that truly suits our bodies. Praise for The Chair:  "[A] concise, multidisciplinary gem."—Publishers Weekly "Cranz is no sedentary historian. The Chair is a call to action."—Jonathan Levi, Los Angeles Times "Galen Cranz has written a provocative book. Pull up a comfortable chair-if you can find one-and read it."—Witold Rybczynski