In "Pattern Oriented Analysis and Design", Yacoub and Ammar aim to describe a methodology - POAD - for assembling systems from design patterns. The book consists of description of their proposed methodology, a selection of case studies illustrating the use of this methodology, and a final section looking at ways in which their approach might be automated.

There are some interesting ideas in this book, including the proposal that patterns should be represented as components, in order to make it easier to support integration. Some of the current problems with patterns - such as the lack of complete "pattern repositories" or "pattern catalogues" - are also discussed.

Overall, however, I found this book unduly long, and difficult to read. Will POAD be of value to software developers? Time will tell, but - by the time I put this book down - I remained unconvinced by the case the authors had made for their approach.