Alexander defines design as "the process of inventing things which display new physical order, organization, form, in response to function...".

Even though his focus was formed in architectural design and civil engineering, the core ideas underlying his approach can be applied to many other fields.

Alexander's analysis of the village of Bavra, in Gujarat, India formed the major case study in the dissertation and the book.

"[2] The book influenced a number of leading software writers, including Larry Constantine, Ed Yourdon, Alan Cooper, and Tom DeMarco.

The equations describing the magnetic field can be translated into many useful outputs, to which, the concept denoted here by term "pattern" is a corresponding material manifestation or articulation.