Here's a cheat sheet outlining some popular design patterns, their pros and cons, and guidance on when to use them:
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Singleton Pattern:
- Pros: Ensures only one instance of a class exists, provides a global point of access.
- Cons: Can introduce tight coupling and make unit testing difficult.
- Use when: You need to limit the number of instances of a class, such as for managing shared resources or global configurations.
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Factory Pattern:
- Pros: Provides a centralized place to create objects, encapsulates object creation logic.
- Cons: Can become complex as the number of product types increases.
- Use when: You want to create objects without exposing the instantiation logic and provide a flexible way to create different types of objects.
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Abstract Factory Pattern:
- Pros: Allows the creation of families of related objects, promotes loose coupling.
- Cons: Adding new product types can be challenging.
- Use when: You need to create families of related objects without specifying their concrete classes, and you want to ensure the compatibility of the created objects.
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Builder Pattern:
- Pros: Provides a step-by-step process to construct complex objects, allows different representations.
- Cons: Requires creating a separate builder class for each type of object.
- Use when: You need to create complex objects with many optional parameters and want to separate the construction logic from the object itself.
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Prototype Pattern:
- Pros: Allows object creation by cloning an existing object, reduces the need for subclassing.
- Cons: Cloning complex objects can be challenging.
- Use when: Creating new objects by cloning existing ones is more convenient than creating them from scratch, or when subclassing is not desirable.
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Observer Pattern:
- Pros: Supports loose coupling between objects, provides a one-to-many dependency between objects.
- Cons: Observers may receive unnecessary notifications.
- Use when: You need to establish a notification mechanism where multiple objects (observers) are interested in the state changes of another object (subject).
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Decorator Pattern: JS
- Pros: Allows adding behavior to objects dynamically, avoids subclass explosion.
- Cons: Can result in many small objects and complex code.
- Use when: You want to add additional responsibilities or behaviors to objects at runtime without modifying their source code directly.
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Strategy Pattern:
- Pros: Enables selecting an algorithm dynamically, promotes interchangeable components.
- Cons: Can result in increased complexity due to additional classes and interfaces.
- Use when: You have a family of algorithms and want to encapsulate each one separately and make them interchangeable.
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Facade Pattern: JS
- Pros: Provides a simplified interface to a complex subsystem, decouples clients from subsystems.
- Cons: May hide important details or make the code harder to maintain if misused.
- Use when: You want to provide a unified interface to a set of interfaces in a subsystem, or when you need to simplify a complex system for client usage.
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Adapter Pattern: JS
- Pros: Allows objects with incompatible interfaces to work together, enables code reuse.
- Cons: Can result in a more complex code structure.
- Use when: You need to make two incompatible interfaces work together or convert the interface of a class into another interface that clients expect.
Remember, these patterns are tools to help address common software design problems. The suitability of a pattern depends on the specific context and requirements of your project. Choose patterns that align with your project's goals, maintainability, and extensibility needs.