Patterns

Overview

Patterns are reusable solutions to common software design problems.

Why It Matters

Patterns help you avoid reinventing the same structure repeatedly.

Core Concepts

• A pattern should solve a real repeating problem.
• Patterns can help or hurt depending on fit.
• Naming a pattern should clarify, not impress.

Mental Models

Ask whether the pattern reduces change cost or just adds ceremony.

Best Practices

• Prefer familiar patterns.
• Use patterns deliberately, not by habit.
• Remove patterns that no longer pay for themselves.

Common Mistakes

• Forcing a pattern onto every problem.
• Using a pattern because it sounds senior.
• Letting the pattern become more important than the outcome.

Trade-offs

Patterns improve consistency and speed when repeated, but they can become dead weight when the problem is simple.

Decision Framework

Examples

• Container/presentational separation.
• Feature flags for staged rollout.
• Adapter layers at API boundaries.

Checklists

• Does the pattern solve a repeated problem?
• Is it understandable to the team?
• Would simpler code be better?

Senior Engineer Notes

Senior engineers like patterns that reduce thinking, not patterns that create new vocabulary problems.

Further Reading

• Clean Architecture
• Component Architecture
• Decision Making