antipattern

The Blob is an anti-pattern that describes a class which resembles the monster from the 1958 film The Blob, which absorbs anything it touches and grows larger and larger over time. Such classes are similar to God Objects and over … Continued

When software is released before it is ready, and users of the software are made to find all of its bugs and shortcomings, they’re made to feel as though they’re walking in a minefield. It’s important to release software as … Continued

It’s common for software developers and some organizations to prefer to write something they may need for a given project themselves, rather than using an available open source or commercial offering.  Generally, it’s best to avoid this urge unless the … Continued

The Flags Over Objects anti-pattern occurs when behavior is written outside of an object by inspecting flags (such as status codes), rather than within the object itself. This violates the Tell, Don’t Ask principle, and results in chatty interfaces and … Continued

Copy Folder Versioning is a software development anti-pattern in which source code is updated by simply making copies of the folder in which the code currently resides. This results in a tangled mess of folders, usually without any clear indication … Continued

Assumption Driven Programming refers to the developer practice of assuming all users are like them. The best way to avoid falling into this trap is to interact with users as much as possible. It’s certainly important to dogfood your software, … Continued

Antipatterns are simply design patterns that in many cases introduce more problems than they solve. Sometimes these are coding patterns, while others describe problems within teams or organizations. Alphabetical list of antipatterns: Anemic Model Assumption Driven Programming The Blob Broken Windows … Continued

Although planning is an essential part of building quality software, keep in mind that shipping is a feature (your product must have it). Keep short term plans as close to the actual implementation of your software as possible, while keeping … Continued