Enterprise Integration Patterns


Enterprise Integration Patterns is a book by Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolf and describes 65 patterns for the use of enterprise application integration and message-oriented middleware in the form of a pattern language.

The integration (messaging) pattern language

The pattern language presented in the book consists of 65 patterns structured into 9 categories, which largely follow the flow of a message from one system to the next through channels, routing, and transformations. The book includes an icon-based pattern language, sometimes nicknamed "GregorGrams" after one of the authors. Excerpts from the book are available on the supporting website.

Integration styles and types

The book distinguishes four top-level alternatives for integration:
  1. File Transfer
  2. Shared Database
  3. Remote Procedure Invocation
  4. Messaging
The following integration types are introduced:
The pattern language continues to be relevant as of today, for instance in cloud application development and integration, and in the internet of things. In 2015, the two book authors reunited—for the first time since the publication of the book—for a retrospective and in IEEE Software.

Implementation

Enterprise Integration Patterns are implemented in many open source integration solutions. Notable implementations include Spring Integration, Apache Camel, Red Hat Fuse, Mule ESB and Guaraná DSL.