An Introduction to Antipatterns in Java Applications

n antipattern is a classified bad design; in other words, it is the opposite of a design pattern that suggests good design. Antipatterns present bad solutions in a manner that makes it easy for concerned persons to understand the underlying problems and their consequences. While it is important to know design patterns, I believe it is equally important, if not more so, to understand antipatterns.

Let me justify that position. The world of software revolves around maintenance of applications. Of course, each software product's lifecycle starts with construction, but after the initial roll out, it needs to be maintained. Depending on the development team's skill, the product might have either a good or a bad design, with the terms good and bad here applied within a context, because a perfect design can qualify as an antipattern when applied in the wrong context. For example, using a Singleton object might be appropriate in a single-application server environment, but it can actually create issues if not handled properly in a clustered-application server environment. In contrast to a positive design pattern, antipatterns elicit a negative solution or legacy approach (a yesteryear's solution might be an antipattern in today's world) that could be the result of a team member's lack of sufficient information or bad judgment in approaching the design or solving an issue.