2.9 KiB
2.9 KiB
Meta-Pattern Recognition
Spot patterns appearing in 3+ domains to find universal principles.
Core Principle
Find patterns in how patterns emerge. When the same pattern appears in 3+ domains, it's likely a universal principle worth extracting.
When to Use
| Symptom | Action |
|---|---|
| Same issue in different places | Extract the abstract form |
| Déjà vu in problem-solving | Find the universal pattern |
| Reinventing wheels across domains | Identify the meta-pattern |
| "Haven't we done this before?" | Yes, find and reuse it |
Quick Reference
| Pattern Appears In | Abstract Form | Where Else? |
|---|---|---|
| CPU/DB/HTTP/DNS caching | Store frequently-accessed data closer | LLM prompt caching, CDN |
| Layering (network/storage/compute) | Separate concerns into abstraction levels | Architecture, org structure |
| Queuing (message/task/request) | Decouple producer from consumer with buffer | Event systems, async |
| Pooling (connection/thread/object) | Reuse expensive resources | Memory mgmt, governance |
Process
- Spot repetition - See same shape in 3+ places
- Extract abstract form - Describe independent of any domain
- Identify variations - How does it adapt per domain?
- Check applicability - Where else might this help?
- Document pattern - Make it reusable
Detailed Example
Pattern spotted: Rate limiting appears in:
- API throttling (requests per minute)
- Traffic shaping (packets per second)
- Circuit breakers (failures per window)
- Admission control (concurrent connections)
Abstract form: Bound resource consumption to prevent exhaustion
Variation points:
- What resource (requests, packets, failures, connections)
- What limit (per time window, concurrent, cumulative)
- What happens when exceeded (reject, queue, degrade)
New application: LLM token budgets
- Same pattern: prevent context window exhaustion
- Resource: tokens
- Limit: context window size
- Action: truncate or reject
3+ Domain Rule
Why 3 domains?
- 1 occurrence = coincidence
- 2 occurrences = possible pattern
- 3+ occurrences = likely universal
Domain independence test: Can you describe the pattern without mentioning specific domains?
Red Flags
Signs you're missing meta-patterns:
- "This problem is unique" (probably not)
- Multiple teams solving "different" problems identically
- Reinventing wheels across domains
- "Haven't we done something like this?" (yes, find it)
Benefits of Meta-Patterns
- Battle-tested - Proven across multiple domains
- Reusable - Apply to new situations
- Universal - Domain-independent solutions
- Documented - Known variations and trade-offs
Remember
- 3+ domains = likely universal
- Abstract form reveals new applications
- Variations show adaptation points
- Universal patterns save time
- Document for future reuse