Integration Patterns

For those of you familiar with the Gang of Four Patterns book Design patterns : elements of reusable object-oriented software it will come as no surprise that there is something equivalent for integration. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by the well known author Martin Fowler provides many of these patterns.

My general rule with design patterns is that a good pattern is immediately recognisable to an experienced practitioner. That's what patterns are, the everyday solutions you use but laid bare without all the usual product and technology specific trimmings. If you want to have a look around without buying the book then you can get a good idea of what this is about by visiting the accompanying Enterprise Integration Patterns website. It doesn't give you a great deal of detail, but they do want you to buy the book!
The real value though is in aiding communication. If two IT professionals can talk in the language of patterns then they can hopefully understand each other much better. So if nothing else, read the site and start using the names. It will certainly help to cut through the confusion and jargon that often engulfs our work.