Everyone likes patterns. It seems to be part of our nature to find patterns in the events of the world around us. I am not a behavioral scientist, but I recognize this idea in myself and in others. When I taught 5th graders, for example, the students thrived on patterns of behavior in the classroom and routines that govern how we do things. The students were content knowing exactly what to do when they first entered the classroom. And I see it in my dogs; they expect the same routine each day. One of them, Zelda, comes up to me at my desk if I haven't fed her by 6:00 am each morning. She knows what's supposed to happen. Patterns are commonplace and comforting.

In the coding world we rely on patterns for many reasons: First, we like to have a pattern so we can copy/paste code from one script or file to another. Second, these patterns do not require us to learn something all brand new each time we write a script or a function. I'm currently building two websites for clients. Both of those sites have