The Patterns We Don't Name - Christian Johansen - NDC Oslo 2026

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The talk delivers valuable insights for software developers and architects. The argumentation is strong: it transitions from a general problem (untamed coupling and scattered concerns) to concrete solutions, using real code from production systems. The iterative method of ‘making things first-class’ is persuasive because it is actionable and avoids over-engineering. The speaker successfully demonstrates how systematically constraining function responsibilities (e.g., page renderers only receive serializable data) enables cross-cutting capabilities like caching, streaming, and client-side rendering with minimal changes. The examples are grounded in actual experience, and the reasoning is clear and coherent throughout.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

The talk provides only a single external source—a Wikipedia definition of software architecture—and relies mostly on the speaker’s personal experience. No academic papers or official documentation are cited, which limits the verifiability of the claims. However, the practical demonstrations and code snippets are detailed and self-contained, adding to the plausibility. The title accurately describes the content: the speaker indeed discusses patterns that are not commonly named and proposes explicit modeling. The description aligns well with the talk’s focus and delivery.

The title accurately reflects the content: the talk focuses on recognizing and naming patterns that are currently implicit in code, such as pages and commands.

7/10

The talk is based on the speaker's practical experience and presents a coherent methodology for identifying and modeling recurring patterns in code. No external references are cited beyond a Wikipedia definition, but the reasoning is solid and the examples are concrete.

Markers derived by PSI from the transcript: the creator did not define chapters.

• 00:45Introduction: speaker introduces himself and the topic of finding repeating patterns in code.
• 04:20Definition of software architecture from Wikipedia and the challenge of predicting costly changes.
• 09:30Introduces the concept of 'pages' as a missing first-class concept and shows how to model them.
• 15:00Shows the page system implementation in JavaScript/Express and the benefits of constraining route handlers.
• 21:00Crash course in Clojure syntax to show production code with page IDs and data requests.
• 27:00Explains how data requests replace the getPageData function, enabling caching and streaming.
• 33:00Introduces the command pattern for handling changes, with examples of command objects.
• 39:00Discusses how commands are persisted and processed, and the importance of naming commands after user intentions.
• 44:00Summarizes key ideas: making patterns first-class, owning the contract, and allowing systems to evolve.

• NDC Conferences — Conference organizer for the talk
• NDC Oslo — Conference event page