What FPF Is Not

FPF is not:

• a shrink-wrapped project methodology;
• a checklist bureaucracy;
• a quick-answer cheat sheet;
• a replacement for domain expertise;
• a demand to study the whole specification before useful work begins;
• a promise that every project needs every pattern.

FPF is most useful when the cost of semantic drift, premature convergence, hidden evidence gaps, weak architecture, vague quality, or unreviewable work is higher than the cost of using a disciplined pattern language.