97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know

Chapter 55. Pattern Pathology

Chad LaVigne is a solutions architect and technical hired gun for Baltimore-based TEKSystems, Inc. He works primarily in the Minneapolis area designing and implementing solutions utilizing Enterprise Java technologies.

—Chad LaVigne

DESIGN PATTERNS ARE ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE TOOLS available to the software architect. Using patterns allows us to create common solutions that are easier to communicate and understand. They are concepts that are directly associated with good design. This fact can make it very enticing to demonstrate our architectural prowess by throwing a lot of patterns at a project. If you find yourself trying to shoehorn your favorite patterns into a problem space where they don't apply, you may be a victim of pattern pathology.

Many projects suffer from this condition. These are the projects where you envision the original architect looking up from the last page in his patterns book, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Now, which one will I use first!?". This mentality is somewhat akin to that of a developer who begins writing a class with the thought "hmmm, what class should I extend?". Design patterns are excellent tools for mitigating necessary complexity, but like all tools, they can be misused. Design patterns become a problem when we make them the proverbial hammer with which we must strike every nail. Be careful that your appreciation ...