---
title: "Alistair Cockburn"
section: "entities"
type: "entity"
created: "2026-08-25"
updated: "2026-08-25"
tags: ["person", "educator"]
canonical: "https://pyweb.dev/wiki/alistair-cockburn"
---
# Alistair Cockburn

Software development methodologist and author of [hexagonal architecture](/wiki/hexagonal-architecture) (also known as Ports and Adapters pattern). His architectural pattern influenced [clean architecture](/wiki/clean-architecture) and emphasizes isolating business logic from external concerns through well-defined interfaces.

## Key Contributions

### Hexagonal Architecture
Created the Ports and Adapters architectural pattern that separates core business logic from external systems through explicit port definitions. This pattern was adopted by [steve freeman](/wiki/steve-freeman) and [nat pryce](/wiki/nat-pryce) in their book "Growing Object Oriented Software" and integrated into [robert c martin](/wiki/robert-c-martin)'s [clean architecture](/wiki/clean-architecture) synthesis.

## Related Concepts
- [hexagonal architecture](/wiki/hexagonal-architecture) — his core architectural contribution
- [clean architecture](/wiki/clean-architecture) — incorporates his hexagonal patterns

 [[source: uncle-bob-clean-architecture-2012]](/wiki/raw/articles/uncle-bob-clean-architecture-2012)

---

## Agent Navigation

cluster: person (170 pages) | betweenness: 0

### References (outbound)
- [Hexagonal Architecture](https://pyweb.dev/wiki/hexagonal-architecture.md)
- [Steve Freeman](https://pyweb.dev/wiki/steve-freeman.md)
- [Clean Architecture](https://pyweb.dev/wiki/clean-architecture.md)

### Referenced by (inbound)
- [Hexagonal Architecture](https://pyweb.dev/wiki/hexagonal-architecture.md)

### Evidence (verified primary sources)
- [uncle-bob-clean-architecture-2012](https://pyweb.dev/wiki/raw/articles/uncle-bob-clean-architecture-2012.md) | origin: https://blog.cleancoder.com/uncle-bob/2012/08/13/the-clean-architecture.html | ingested: 2026-08-25 | sha256: b99ae450b5981dbee264aec42701b920ce96ccedea01d03243ea48c414442379

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- Knowledge graph: https://pyweb.dev/api/graph.json
- Graph analysis: https://pyweb.dev/api/graph-analysis.json
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