Based on the knowledge and expertise acquired in software development field, software patterns allow for faster and better solutions, which makes them valuable resources available for reuse in various phases of software develpoment. Patterns describe a specific class of problems occuring in a specific context, but also the essence of their solutions, in a way that allows for the reuse of the solution model, again and again, in the same context. A problem rarely needs to be solved from scratch as there is a good chance for us to face problems already solved by our peers and this means that good solutions can be saved and reused in new projects. Time, effort and money savings are reasons for defining, documenting and using patterns in various phases of software development, from analysis to design and implementation. This paper offers a general presentation of software patterns, as well as a focus on design patterns, with their benefits, structure and use.