Creational patterns

  • Factory Method: Define an interface for creating a single object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Factory Method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.
  • Abstract Factory: Provide an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes.
  • Builder: Separate the construction of a complex object from its representation, allowing the same construction process to create various representations.
  • Prototype: Specify the kinds of objects to create using a prototypical instance, and create new objects from the ‘skeleton’ of an existing object, thus boosting performance and keeping memory footprints to a minimum.
  • Singleton: Ensure a class has only one instance, and provide a global point of access to it.

Structural patterns

  • Adapter: Convert the interface of a class into another interface clients expect. An adapter lets classes work together that could not otherwise because of incompatible interfaces.
  • Bridge: Decouple an abstraction from its implementation allowing the two to vary independently.
  • Composite: Compose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies. Composite lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly.
  • Decorator: Attach additional responsibilities to an object dynamically keeping the same interface. Decorators provide a flexible alternative to subclassing for extending functionality.
  • Facade: Provide a unified interface to a set of interfaces in a subsystem. Facade defines a higher-level interface that makes the subsystem easier to use.
  • Flyweight: Use sharing to support large numbers of similar objects efficiently.
  • Proxy: Provide a surrogate or placeholder for another object to control access to it.

Behavioral patterns

  • Chain of Responsibility: Avoid coupling the sender of a request to its receiver by giving more than one object a chance to handle the request. Chain the receiving objects and pass the request along the chain until an object handles it.
  • Command: Encapsulate a request as an object, thereby allowing for the parameterization of clients with different requests, and the queuing or logging of requests. It also allows for the support of undoable operations.
  • Iterator: Provide a way to access the elements of an aggregate object sequentially without exposing its underlying representation.
  • Mediator: Define an object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact. Mediator promotes loose coupling by keeping objects from referring to each other explicitly, and it allows their interaction to vary independently.
  • Memento: Without violating encapsulation, capture and externalize an object’s internal state allowing the object to be restored to this state later.
  • Observer: Define a one-to-many dependency between objects where a state change in one object results in all its dependents being notified and updated automatically.
  • State: Allow an object to alter its behavior when its internal state changes. The object will appear to change its class.
  • Strategy: Define a family of algorithms, encapsulate each one, and make them interchangeable. Strategy lets the algorithm vary independently from clients that use it.
  • Template Method: Define the skeleton of an algorithm in an operation, deferring some steps to subclasses. Template method lets subclasses redefine certain steps of an algorithm without changing the algorithm’s structure.
  • Visitor: Represent an operation to be performed on instances of a set of classes. Visitor lets a new operation be defined without changing the classes of the elements on which it operates.

References