What Is an AntiPattern?

AntiPatterns, like their design pattern counterparts, define an industry vocabulary for the common defective processes and implementations within organizations. A higher-level vocabulary simplifies communication between software practitioners and enables concise description of higher-level concepts.

An AntiPattern is a literary form that describes a commonly occurring solution to a problem that generates decidedly negative consequences. The AntiPattern may be the result of a manager or developer not knowing any better, not having sufficient knowledge or experience in solving a particular type of problem, or having applied a perfectly good pattern in the wrong context.

AntiPatterns provide real-world experience in recognizing recurring problems in the software industry and provide a detailed remedy for the most common predicaments. AntiPatterns highlight the most common problems that face the software industry and provide the tools to enable you to recognize these problems and to determine their underlying causes.

Furthermore, AntiPatterns present a detailed plan for reversing these underlying causes and implementing productive solutions. AntiPatterns effectively describe the measures that can be taken at several levels to improve the developing of applications, the designing of software systems, and the effective management of software projects.

Software Development AntiPatterns

A key goal of development AntiPatterns is to describe useful forms of software refactoring. Software refactoring is a form of code modification, used to improve the software structure in support of subsequent extension and long-term maintenance. In most cases, the goal is to transform code without impacting correctness.

Software Architecture AntiPatterns

Architecture AntiPatterns focus on the system-level and enterprise-level structure of applications and components. Although the engineering discipline of software architecture is relatively immature, what has been determined repeatedly by software research and experience is the overarching importance of architecture in software development.