Documenting frameworks using patterns

Abstract

The documentation for a framework must meet several requirements. These requirements can all be met by structuring the documentation as a set of patterns, sometimes called a `pattern language'. Patterns can describe the purpose of a framework, can let application programmers use a framework without having to understand in detail how it works, and can teach many of the design details embodied in the framework. This paper shows how to use patterns to document a framework, and includes a set of patterns for HotDraw as an example.