The jZone

I’d just like to thank my colleagues Bill and Tom for defining this new pattern:

Sarcophagus Pattern

Intent

Provide a unified interface to a preserved, unspeakable horror that cannot be purged for sentimental or compatibility reasons. Sarcophagus is similar to Facade, but carries the implication that the box should only be opened in the presence of police, necromancers, or others familiar with the dealing with dead things.

Sarcophagus defines a higher-level interface that prevents the contents of the tomb from eating the brains of living. This can be used to simplify a number of despicable interactions and nightmarish dependencies into a single interface.

See also
Facade Pattern, Mediator Pattern, Adapter Pattern

Origins
Inspired by Tom during discussions of [removed to protect the authors]. Defined by Bill.

From the “Online Etymology Dictionary”: sarcophagus
“stone coffin,” 1601, from L. sarcophagus, from Gk. sarkophagos “limestone used for coffins,” lit. “flesh-eating,” in reference to the supposed action of this type of limestone (quarried near Assos in Troas) in quickly decomposing the body, from sarx (gen. sarkos) “flesh” (see sarcasm) + phagein “to eat” (see -phagous). The stone sense was the earliest in Eng,; meaning “stone coffin, often with inscriptions or decorative carvings” is recorded from 1705. The L. word, shortened in V.L. to *sarcus, is the source of Fr. cercueil, Ger. Sarg “coffin,” Du. zerk “tombstone.”

Floyd Marinescu has just published a free short book on InfoQ that I think all software developers, java developers in particular, should read.

It is a short, succinct explanation of Domain-Driven Design, and takes us back to the basics of application design using a domain based approach.

Far too often, Java designers and developers spend too much time worrying about “how” to build an application, with far too much focus being placed on the technical aspects. Floyd’s book re-introduces the domain driven approach, focusing on “what” to build.

Java’s complexity (ironic for a language that was striving for simplicity) is the reason why so many Java developers have such poor focus. Using a simpler language (Ruby anyone?) allows the developer to focus on the “what” without having to worry about the “how”.

Unfortunately, Java’s complexity is here to stay. Which is why I think it is so important to stress to developers that they shouldn’t lose focus on the “what”.