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Antipatterns

Architecture Antipatterns Overview

Architecture antipatterns are structural problems in how code is organized. They lead to:

  • Tight coupling - Components that can’t be changed independently
  • Poor testability - Code that’s impossible to unit test
  • Maintenance nightmares - Simple changes require modifying many files
  • Onboarding difficulties - New developers can’t understand the system

Antipatterns Covered

Section titled “Antipatterns Covered”

God Object

A single class/file that knows too much and does too much

Service Locator

Fake dependency injection that creates hidden dependencies

Circular Dependencies

Modules that depend on each other in a cycle

Copy-Paste Inheritance

Duplicating code instead of proper abstraction

Singleton Abuse

Overusing singletons where they don’t belong

The Problem with Bad Architecture

Section titled “The Problem with Bad Architecture”
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         GOD OBJECT                       │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  │
│  │  Auth    │  │  Users   │  │ Products │  │  Orders  │  │
│  │  Logic   │  │  Logic   │  │  Logic   │  │  Logic   │  │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  │
│  │ Database │  │  Config  │  │  Routes  │  │  Utils   │  │
│  │ Queries  │  │ Loading  │  │ Handling │  │   ????   │  │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        Everything depends on everything else!

What Good Architecture Looks Like

Section titled “What Good Architecture Looks Like”
┌───────────┐    ┌───────────┐    ┌───────────┐
│   Auth    │    │   Users   │    │ Products  │
│  Module   │    │  Module   │    │  Module   │
└─────┬─────┘    └─────┬─────┘    └─────┬─────┘
      │                │                │
      └────────┬───────┴────────┬───────┘
               │                │
         ┌─────▼─────┐    ┌─────▼─────┐
         │  Database │    │   Config  │
         │  Layer    │    │   Layer   │
         └───────────┘    └───────────┘
        Each module has clear boundaries

Key Principles

Section titled “Key Principles”
  1. Single Responsibility - Each module does one thing well
  2. Dependency Inversion - Depend on abstractions, not implementations
  3. Interface Segregation - Small, focused interfaces
  4. Open/Closed - Open for extension, closed for modification