Azure & DevOps Podcast

Jeremy Clark: Design Patterns - Episode 270

Nov 6, 2023

Jeremy Clark, a developer who helps other developers, discusses design patterns and their relevance in modern languages like C#. He shares his journey in programming, emphasizing the importance of asking questions and transitioning into teaching. The chapter explores the significance of design patterns, including the use of facade and observer patterns. It also discusses alternative resources and the application of design patterns in various fields.

35:55

Creator website

Episode guests

Jeremy Clark

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Design patterns provide developers with proven solutions to common software development problems, promoting better code organization and scalability.

Understanding design patterns enhances collaboration among developers and allows for better design decisions in modern domains.

Deep dives

Understanding Design Patterns

Design patterns are solutions to common problems in software development. They provide a way to address recurring challenges, such as handling state changes on an object. A design pattern is not a specific solution but rather the core of a solution, allowing developers to implement it in their own way. Patterns can be found in various areas, including UI architectures like MVC and MVVM. While the classic Gang of Four patterns from the 1994 book are still relevant, there are also newer patterns emerging in different domains. Abstraction is closely related to design patterns and interfaces play a significant role in creating abstractions. Abstraction allows developers to create flexible and maintainable code by separating concerns and enabling testability. It is important to strike a balance when it comes to abstraction to avoid both under-abstracting and over-abstracting the code.

Introduction

2min

Jeremy Clark's Journey in Programming

5min

Understanding Design Patterns and Their Relevance in Modern Languages

5min

The Importance of Design Patterns and Alternative Resources

5min

Design Patterns and their Application

19min

Jeremy helps developers by sharing his struggles, mostly in technology, but also with being more social as an introvert, understanding learning potential, and playing banjo. He has worked as a corporate developer, as a Chief Improvement Officer at a startup, and as a contract developer. Currently, he teaches developers through online courses, workshops, tech articles, and conference talks. He spends most of his time in C# and has recently ventured into Go (Golang) and Rust (Rust lang) to explore some of his favorite topics: interfaces, delegates, concurrency, and parallel programming. You can see him speaking next at LIVE! 360 in Orlando, FL Nov 12‒17, 2023. Use promo code “Clark” to save $500 off your ticket. Also Oct 23rd at DevSpaceConf in Huntsville, AL.

Design patterns are not just for architects. In fact, you already use Design Patterns but probably don’t know it. Observer, Facade, Iterator, Proxy — these are all patterns that allow us to better communicate our ideas with other developers. And once we understand the patterns, we can use solutions that people way smarter than we have already implemented. In this session, we’ll take a look at several Gang of Four patterns that we regularly use without realizing it. Don’t know who the Gang of Four is? Join us to find out.

Topics of Discussion:

[3:30] Jeremy talks about his foray into programming and the colleagues that helped him gain confidence.

[6:44] Jeremy went from speaking at smaller user groups and code camps to global conferences.

[7:35] The act of sharing gained expertise is what makes you an expert.

[10:10] Design patterns and their relevance in development.

[13:19] The importance of the Gang of Four book and Head First Design Patterns.

[17:24] Iterator and the patterns that fall in that category.

[20:43] Are we seeing classic patterns be redirected or are new ones taking shape?

[23:05] The concept of abstraction.

[24:10] The two states that developers fall into.

[28:02] More about Jeremy’s testing philosophy and how it’s changed over the years.

[29:26] What Jeremy prioritizes when helping other developers start a new codebase.