Architecture pattern: context + problem -> solution
Architecture style: solution part of architecture pattern
So architecture style is analogous to the solution part of the architecture pattern. It's often used in books dealing with architecture documentation where the focus is on the solution and not how the context and problem came about.
An architectural style (Base et al. 1997) and an architectural pattern
(Buschmann et al. 1996) are essentially synonymous.
Based on some more googling, this is what i think might be one possible way to differentiate the two
- An architectural style is a conceptual way of how the system will be created / will work
- An architectural pattern describes a solution for implementing a style at the level of subsystems or modules and their relationships.
How an architectural pattern will differ from a Design pattern i.e Adapter, observer is basically by the level of Granularity at which they are applied (I know this isnt part of the question but its related, i think)
Conclusion
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, it’s all about the scope:
- An Architectural Style is the application design at the highest level of abstraction;
- An Architectural Pattern is a way to implement an Architectural Style;
- A Design Pattern is a way to solve a localised problem.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3958316/whats-the-difference-between-architectural-patterns-and-architectural-styles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design_pattern