A PatternCatalog is a collection of (possibly) related
patterns. Patterns in a pattern catalog do not form
a PatternLanguage; that is, their contexts do not weave
them together.
Nonetheless, patterns in a PatternCatalog are often
written with consideration to other patterns in the same
catalogue.
One might postulate that a PatternLanguage generates
what Parnas called a SoftwareFamily, while a PatternCatalog
does not. That is, as a whole, a PatternLanguage is
generative, while a PatternCatalog is not.
I view the DesignPatternsBook as a PatternCatalog.
Its patterns were written with careful attention to their
interworkings, yet the patterns do not form a
PatternLanguage.
-- JimCoplien
Consider also ThePatternAlmanac book -- a true catalog of lots of patterns.
It does not even contain the patterns -- just bibliographic references to them.
CategoryGroupsOfPatterns