Ralph Johnson

Ph.D. Cornell University, 1987

Research Statement

Ralph Johnson has been studying how object-oriented programming changes the way software is developed. He has worked on several projects, including frameworks for operating systems (Choices), drawing editors (HotDraw), music synthesis (Kyma), and business transaction processing (Accounts).

He is co-author of the book Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Design, winner of the 1994 Software Productivity Award. Patterns describe recurring design techniques and explain why and when they should be used. They make designers be more productive and communicate with each other better. He was one of the originators of the software patterns movement, organizing the first conference on patterns, as well as writing many of the first papers on the subject. He believes that software will never become engineering until there are catalogs of designs that can be reused, and so has been documenting these designs, both as frameworks and as patterns.