# Patterns of Software by Richard Gabriel

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Patterns of Software by Richard Gabriel and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A free book by Richard Gabriel, recommended as the first genuine attempt to apply Alexandrian patterns to software.

## Why people recommend it

- Free to read (1 comments): "It's summarized in the free book by Richard Gabriel, "Patterns of Software"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47760146))
- Applies Alexandrian patterns to software (1 comments): "the first genuine attempt to apply Alexandrian patterns to software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46239647))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mythical-man-month.md): 56 recommend
- [Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann](https://hackerapproved.com/p/designing-data-intensive-applications.md): 37 recommend
- [A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout](https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-philosophy-of-software-design.md): 28 recommend
- [Code Complete by Steve McConnell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/code-complete.md): 14 recommend
- [The Architecture of Open Source Applications by Amy Brown and Greg Wilson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/architecture-of-open-source-applications.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195121236?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780195121230) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Patterns of Software by Richard Gabriel", https://hackerapproved.com/p/patterns-of-software/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).