Gareth Adams wrote: > I've heard these terms used in various places, just wondering where I can find > out more about what they mean and how knowing about them can help my programming Hmm, generally the GOF[1] book is quite good on these things - it is considered the Pickaxe of code design, so to say (although is more than 10 years old). Immutable is very well explained in Effective Java[2] - however if you won't like to study Java I don't recommend this, it just crossed my mind because I have seen it there recently (OTOH, if you would like to learn Java idioms it is a cool book). This page[3] also has some nice links to get you started... If you are interested in a concrete thing, just google for it, and try to add 'design pattern' or 'pattern', e.g.the combination 'immutable design pattern' gives good results. HTH, Peter [1] http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Object-Oriented-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0201633612 [2] http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Java-Programming-Language-Guide/dp/0201310058/sr=1-1/qid=1163509093/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5512879-9475208?ie=UTF8&s=books also available online for free, just google for it [3] http://hillside.net/patterns/onlinepatterncatalog.htm __ http://www.rubyrailways.com