[brudgers]

Alexander considered his work prior to A Pattern Language to be a failure. Notes on the Synthesis of Form was largely his Phd work from Harvard, and his self-criticism was that the process was too formal.

My personal opinion is that it better corresponds to current software architectural practice because whereas A Pattern Language is entirely focused on habitability for end users, both current software architectural practice and Notes on the Synthesis of Form emphasize habitability for the architect/programmer - e.g. three tiered systems make the job of the programmer easier, they don't necessarily improve user experience, but light on two sides does.