Well we meet for our usual (West Side) design pattern study group (Wing Ding) meeting March 10th. Turn-out was a little lower than normal, I think there were 9 of us.

We intended to cover both "Flyweight" & "Interpreter", and at all meetings in the past, two hours was plenty to cover 2 patterns. But this time, we consumed almost the entire meeting on just "Flyweight". Because of this "Interpreter" has been moved to the next meeting (and the web page:

http://SNS.to/Patterns

The Flyweight pattern turned out to be a real problem! We are pretty much in agreement that the example that is used in the (Gang of Four) book at the beginning of the section is NOT the same as the one at the end. And that they are VERY POOR examples at that! Unfortunately, that is about all we did agree to! After much "discussion", we were all "tired" of Flyweight, and did not want to deal with Interpreter then.

The next meeting is March 24th, 1999, and we expect to cover the last two patterns from the (Gang of Four) book. As we have enjoyed these meetings (and don't feel that we know everything there is to know about patterns), we have agreed to move on to:

Patterns in Java a Catalog of Reusable Design Patterns Illustrated With Uml : A Catalog of Reusable Design Patterns Illustrated With Uml - Grand, $29.50, 41% off List $49.99 at www.bookpool.com

Lance B. Young

He has indicated that the first meeting covering Patterns in Java will be on the "NULL Object", and another. If you are unfamiliar with this incredibly useful pattern (NULL Object), you owe it to yourself to attend!

George