The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist
Brooks, Frederick Jr.
Addison-Wesley, 2010
A somewhat eclectic collection, this book addresses such topics as computer architecture, software architecture, residential architecture, and human-computer interaction (HCI). Occassionally these occur in combination—Brooks touches more than once on the possibilities for novel HCI approaches in residential architecture. But at its core this book asks a simple question that has no simple answer: How exactly does one go about designing?
I would argue that Section III, Design Perspectives, is the core of the book and contains the essays most broadly applicable to the design process. Chapter 11, Constraints Are Friends, reminds us that design is most difficult when open-ended.
Chapter 12, Esthetics and Style in Technical Design, has perhaps the best definition of architectural style I have come across:
Style is a set of different repeated microdecisions, each made the same way whenever it arises, even though the context may be different.
Chapter 13, Exemplars in Design reminds us that neither the best designers nor the best designs appear out of thin air. On the contrary, great designers study what has been done before. That gives them both something to copy and an informed via of when it’s time to strike out and do something new.
Finally, Chapter 15, The Divorce of Design, touches on the fact that designers are more often than not separated from what they make, neither its user nor its maker. This is an inevitable outcome of complexity, which forces specialization. And yet the designer must know something of how the thing will be made and how it will be used.
Assuming you are reading the book as a software architect, you will want to pick-and-choose from the remaining material. The case studies of the IBM System/360 (Chapters 24 and 25) are interesting; Brooks' kitchen remodel (Chapter 23), less so.
Ultimately, this is not a software architecture book in the sense of most titles in this library. Nor is it prescriptive; it is primarily a reflection on the design process. But if you’re an architect, and you’ve ever stopped to think about how you do what you do, you may enjoy the chance to compare notes with Brooks.
© 2025 by Oliver Goldman