The Timeless Way of Building

The book, "The Timeless Way of Building", by Christopher Alexander is a philosophical book about the theory behind architecture.  His main belief is that if you create the goals (or patterns) of what should be in each room then with enough thought you can create a room that meets all of these goals.  These patterns, that at first seem to conflict with each other, can be put together like a puzzle with enough thought and belief that you will succeed.  

As I'm not an architect, I like to take his way of thinking and try to apply it in my profession as a website programmer.  Look at a website as a house.  A house has rooms while a website has sections.  Each room has different patterns (or requirements) which must be upheld in order to create a successful room.  Each website section also has different requirements which must be met in order to create a successful website section.  When you are planning your house or website and writing down all the patterns that must be met, some of the patterns will seem to conflict.  The authors main premise is that with enough creativity and belief in you ability to find a solution, you will be able to meet all of these patterns to make a great room (or website section).  Then, each room or website section will have to be pieced together to create that great finalized home or website. 

While we've always kind of inherently known this to be true, the way he describes it puts words into the general feeling we've all had when building these websites.  While the scope of the book is completely about building houses, communities, or towns, you will be able to transfer its meaning to your area of work.  

As an added bonus, you may also get inspired to design your own home (architects beware!).   When I have the ability to build a new home, I will now certainly create the general blueprints using the book and the two other in the series as a guide.  I've already got an outline in my head about all of the rooms that I'd like and the general feel that I would want to go for in my home.  Obviously, I'll hand these rough draft to a professional to validate that plans before actually building the home.

This book should apply well to any profession, including web development and programming. The idea that with enough planning and belief in finding a solution, you can create a solution that meets all your goals without eliminating any.  At first, this sounds too pure and simplistic to actually work.  While not easy, it certainly is able to be accomplished if you believe it can be and are willing to put in the work to make it so.