design-patternsarchitecturearchitectural-patterns

What's the difference between Design pattern, Architectural pattern, Architectural style, and Architecture?


Can anyone please describe the differences between Design pattern, Architectural pattern, Architectural style, and Architecture? Thanks in advance.


Solution

  • Design Pattern generally refers to design pattern of a particular bit of code (a few objects or functions) such as Factory Pattern, or Visitor

    An architectural pattern refers to the pattern design for a solution, such as Event-Driven, MVC, 3-Tier, etc. It is usually concrete, and can be plugged into a problem with a fairly known set of parameters.

    Architectural Style is more abstract, and refers to things like Separation of Layers, SOA, etc. It is not a "solution" to a problem, but is a description of a design.

    Architecture is the actual design and implementation of a given solution. It is concrete and specific to a specific solution.