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name: design-patterns-implementation description: Apply appropriate design patterns (Singleton, Factory, Observer, Strategy, etc.) to solve architectural problems. Use when refactoring code architecture, implementing extensible systems, or following SOLID principles.

Design Patterns Implementation

Overview

Apply proven design patterns to create maintainable, extensible, and testable code architectures.

When to Use

• Solving common architectural problems
• Making code more maintainable and testable
• Implementing extensible plugin systems
• Decoupling components
• Following SOLID principles
• Code reviews identifying architectural issues

Common Design Patterns

1. Singleton Pattern

Ensure a class has only one instance with global access.

class DatabaseConnection {
  private static instance: DatabaseConnection;
  private connection: any;

  private constructor() {
    this.connection = this.createConnection();
  }

  public static getInstance(): DatabaseConnection {
    if (!DatabaseConnection.instance) {
      DatabaseConnection.instance = new DatabaseConnection();
    }
    return DatabaseConnection.instance;
  }

  private createConnection() {
    return { /* connection logic */ };
  }
}

// Usage
const db1 = DatabaseConnection.getInstance();
const db2 = DatabaseConnection.getInstance();
// db1 === db2 (same instance)

2. Factory Pattern

Create objects without specifying exact classes.

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod

class PaymentProcessor(ABC):
    @abstractmethod
    def process_payment(self, amount: float) -> bool:
        pass

class StripeProcessor(PaymentProcessor):
    def process_payment(self, amount: float) -> bool:
        # Stripe-specific logic
        return True

class PayPalProcessor(PaymentProcessor):
    def process_payment(self, amount: float) -> bool:
        # PayPal-specific logic
        return True

class PaymentProcessorFactory:
    @staticmethod
    def create_processor(processor_type: str) -> PaymentProcessor:
        if processor_type == 'stripe':
            return StripeProcessor()
        elif processor_type == 'paypal':
            return PayPalProcessor()
        else:
            raise ValueError(f'Unknown processor: {processor_type}')

# Usage
processor = PaymentProcessorFactory.create_processor('stripe')
processor.process_payment(100.00)

3. Observer Pattern

Define one-to-many dependency for event notification.

class Subject {
  constructor() {
    this.observers = [];
  }

  attach(observer) {
    this.observers.push(observer);
  }

  detach(observer) {
    this.observers = this.observers.filter(obs => obs !== observer);
  }

  notify(data) {
    this.observers.forEach(observer => observer.update(data));
  }
}

class Observer {
  update(data) {
    console.log('Received update:', data);
  }
}

// Usage
const subject = new Subject();
const observer1 = new Observer();
const observer2 = new Observer();

subject.attach(observer1);
subject.attach(observer2);
subject.notify({ event: 'data_changed' });

4. Strategy Pattern

Define family of algorithms and make them interchangeable.

interface CompressionStrategy {
    byte[] compress(byte[] data);
}

class ZipCompression implements CompressionStrategy {
    public byte[] compress(byte[] data) {
        // ZIP compression logic
        return data;
    }
}

class GzipCompression implements CompressionStrategy {
    public byte[] compress(byte[] data) {
        // GZIP compression logic
        return data;
    }
}

class FileCompressor {
    private CompressionStrategy strategy;

    public FileCompressor(CompressionStrategy strategy) {
        this.strategy = strategy;
    }

    public void setStrategy(CompressionStrategy strategy) {
        this.strategy = strategy;
    }

    public byte[] compressFile(byte[] data) {
        return strategy.compress(data);
    }
}

// Usage
FileCompressor compressor = new FileCompressor(new ZipCompression());
compressor.compressFile(fileData);

// Change strategy at runtime
compressor.setStrategy(new GzipCompression());
compressor.compressFile(fileData);

5. Decorator Pattern

Add responsibilities to objects dynamically.

interface Coffee {
  cost(): number;
  description(): string;
}

class SimpleCoffee implements Coffee {
  cost(): number {
    return 5;
  }

  description(): string {
    return 'Simple coffee';
  }
}

class MilkDecorator implements Coffee {
  constructor(private coffee: Coffee) {}

  cost(): number {
    return this.coffee.cost() + 2;
  }

  description(): string {
    return this.coffee.description() + ', milk';
  }
}

class SugarDecorator implements Coffee {
  constructor(private coffee: Coffee) {}

  cost(): number {
    return this.coffee.cost() + 1;
  }

  description(): string {
    return this.coffee.description() + ', sugar';
  }
}

// Usage
let coffee: Coffee = new SimpleCoffee();
console.log(coffee.cost()); // 5

coffee = new MilkDecorator(coffee);
console.log(coffee.cost()); // 7

coffee = new SugarDecorator(coffee);
console.log(coffee.cost()); // 8
console.log(coffee.description()); // "Simple coffee, milk, sugar"

6. Repository Pattern

Abstract data access logic.

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
from typing import List, Optional

class UserRepository(ABC):
    @abstractmethod
    def find_by_id(self, user_id: int) -> Optional[User]:
        pass

    @abstractmethod
    def find_all(self) -> List[User]:
        pass

    @abstractmethod
    def save(self, user: User) -> User:
        pass

    @abstractmethod
    def delete(self, user_id: int) -> bool:
        pass

class DatabaseUserRepository(UserRepository):
    def __init__(self, db_connection):
        self.db = db_connection

    def find_by_id(self, user_id: int) -> Optional[User]:
        result = self.db.query('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?', user_id)
        return User.from_dict(result) if result else None

    def find_all(self) -> List[User]:
        results = self.db.query('SELECT * FROM users')
        return [User.from_dict(r) for r in results]

    def save(self, user: User) -> User:
        self.db.execute('INSERT INTO users (...) VALUES (...)', user.to_dict())
        return user

    def delete(self, user_id: int) -> bool:
        return self.db.execute('DELETE FROM users WHERE id = ?', user_id)

7. Dependency Injection

Invert control by injecting dependencies.

// Bad: Hard-coded dependencies
class OrderService {
  private db = new MySQLDatabase(); // Tightly coupled
  private email = new GmailService(); // Tightly coupled

  createOrder(order: Order) {
    this.db.save(order);
    this.email.send(order.customer_email, 'Order created');
  }
}

// Good: Dependency injection
interface Database {
  save(entity: any): void;
}

interface EmailService {
  send(to: string, subject: string): void;
}

class OrderService {
  constructor(
    private db: Database,
    private email: EmailService
  ) {}

  createOrder(order: Order) {
    this.db.save(order);
    this.email.send(order.customer_email, 'Order created');
  }
}

// Usage - easy to test with mocks
const service = new OrderService(
  new MySQLDatabase(),
  new GmailService()
);

// Test with mocks
const testService = new OrderService(
  new MockDatabase(),
  new MockEmailService()
);

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Choose patterns that solve actual problems
• Keep patterns simple and understandable
• Document why patterns were chosen
• Consider testability
• Follow SOLID principles
• Use dependency injection
• Prefer composition over inheritance

❌ DON'T

• Apply patterns without understanding them
• Over-engineer simple solutions
• Force patterns where they don't fit
• Create unnecessary abstraction layers
• Ignore team familiarity with patterns

When to Use Each Pattern

Pattern	Use Case
Singleton	Database connections, configuration managers
Factory	Creating objects based on runtime conditions
Observer	Event systems, pub/sub, reactive programming
Strategy	Algorithms that can be swapped at runtime
Decorator	Adding features dynamically without inheritance
Repository	Abstracting data access from business logic
Adapter	Making incompatible interfaces work together
Facade	Simplifying complex subsystems
Command	Undo/redo, task queuing, macro recording

Resources

• "Design Patterns" by Gang of Four
• "Head First Design Patterns" by Freeman & Freeman
• refactoring.guru/design-patterns