An Introduction to Antipatterns in Java Applications

An Introduction to Antipatterns in Java Applications: "An Introduction to Antipatterns in Java Applications
Just as design patterns provide a way to communicate concisely about desired software practices, antipatterns provide the equivalent advantages for communicating undesirable practices—and here's a set of common antipatterns to get you started.

by Puneet Sangal September 6, 2005

An 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 se"