Understanding Anti-Patterns in software development

In software development, it's important to write code that is not only functional but also clean, maintainable, and scalable.

However, developers often encounter many challenges while building systems, and in some cases, they may fall into common traps known as anti-patterns.

These are poor programming practices that seem like good solutions at first but, over time, lead to inefficiencies, hard-to-maintain code, or even system failures.

In this article, I want to explore some well-known anti-patterns in software development and provide examples in code to help you understand how to identify and avoid them.

 

1. Hard-code, Magic String and Number

Hard-code means hard-coding some values and some logic that needs to be changed directly into the code, such as database connection, some configuration...

Magic string and magic number means hard-coding a number, a magical string, without clearly stating where that number/string comes from, or what it is...

For example, the code below is both hard coded and uses magic numbers.

Solution: This Anti Pattern is easy to handle. Just don't hardcode the config values (but read from the config file or know the environment), separate the magic numbers into separate variables, or write more comments.

The code after the fix is much easier to understand, right?


2. Callback hell

The concept of the callback is certainly not strange to JavaScript coders, especially when processing asynchronous JavaScript functions (like in NodeJS for example).

However, if we overuse callback functions without proper coding methods, our code will become extremely complicated and difficult to read.

 

Solution: to avoid callback hell, there are several approaches that make asynchronous code more manageable and readable. Two common solutions are Promising and Async/Await.

  • Using Promises: A Promise is an object representing the eventual completion (or failure) of an asynchronous operation and its resulting value. Promises allow you to avoid nested callbacks by chaining .then() methods.

  • Using Async/Await: Async/Await is a more modern and cleaner approach to handling asynchronous code. It allows you to write asynchronous code in a synchronous-looking manner, making it much easier to read and maintain.

 

3. God Class/Object

A God Object is an anti-pattern where a single class or object is given too many responsibilities, making it overly complex and difficult to manage.

This is a common mistake among students who are working on projects, or in projects that are too old, and written by inexperienced developers.

Gob Class means a super-huge, Divine Class that can do anything, so it is called God. This mistake occurs when developers put too many features into one class.

Solution:

  • Following the Single Responsibility principle in SOLID, each class should only have 1 Responsibility.
  • Refactor the code gradually, separate the class into smaller classes, and group functions/data that are often used together into a separate class.

 

4. Copy-Paste Programming

Another common anti-pattern is copy-paste programming, where developers duplicate code instead of abstracting common functionality into reusable functions or classes.

This is a pattern of writing code once, the next time you need to use it, copy the old code, and modify it a bit to make it run.

In the long run, this will cause the project's code to swell. The code is repetitive, and when editing or fixing bugs, many places will have to be fixed. If you forget or miss something, you will miss bugs.

Solution:
The simplest way is to separate the code that needs to be used into a separate function, a separate library to use.

 

5. Spaghetti Code

Spaghetti code refers to code that has a tangled and convoluted structure, often because of excessive use of global variables, lack of proper design, the flow is roundabout, extremely difficult to read, and difficult to fix.

The reason could be that the coding team doesn't have a specific design, or the developer is lazy so they code haphazardly. Or because the requirements are constantly changing and overlapping, but the modules and designs are not updated, so they also overlap!

Solution:

  • This is the most difficult Anti Pattern to solve completely! Because it is not only related to the code but also related to the design of the modules in the system
  • The easiest way is to destroy and rewrite when you understand the original logic, but it will take a lot of time and may lack requirements
  • You should gradually refactor the code and separate it into small parts. You can redesign the modules if necessary.


6. Golden Hammer

The Golden Hammer anti-pattern happens when a developer uses a familiar tool or technology to solve every problem, even when it's not the best fit.

For example, a programmer was assigned to develop a website project that required a simple UI and required fast response, with no animation.

However, he chose a UI library that he was familiar with even though it was quite heavy, had many unnecessary configurations, and was difficult to use for beginners.

Using the wrong tool for the job can lead to inefficiency, poor performance, and scalability issues. It's essential to choose the right tool or technology based on the specific needs of the problem.

Solution:

Evaluate the problem carefully and choose the right technology. For instance, if you need to store large amounts of unstructured data, consider using NoSQL databases like MongoDB or Cassandra instead of traditional relational databases.


7. Premature Optimization

Optimizing code is the process of editing/rewriting code to reduce size, limit input/output, increase execution speed, and reduce the amount of hardware needed.

Sometimes, optimizing code too early (not knowing where it runs slowly, and which part to optimize) is completely unnecessary, it also makes the code more complicated, harder to read, and harder to debug.

Solution:

Don't optimize too soon or too quickly. Ask yourself if the code needs or is worth optimizing.


Conclusion

Avoiding anti-patterns is crucial to writing high-quality, maintainable code. By recognizing and addressing issues like God Objects, Spaghetti Code, Lazy Classes, Copy-Paste Programming, and the Golden Hammer, developers can build systems that are easier to maintain and extend over time. As software development practices evolve, it’s essential to constantly improve our approach and learn from past mistakes


[References]
https://dev.to/yogini16/anti-patterns-that-every-developer-should-know-4nph
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/antipatterns-to-avoid-in-code/
https://medium.com/@christophnissle/anti-patterns-in-software-development-c51957867f27