Design Patterns For Humans


Ultra-simplified explanation to design patterns!

A topic that can easily make anyone's mind wobble. Here I try to make them stick in to your mind (and maybe mine) by explaining them in the simplest way possible.


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Introduction

Design patterns are solutions to recurring problems; guidelines on how to tackle certain problems. They are not classes, packages or libraries that you can plug into your application and wait for the magic to happen. These are, rather, guidelines on how to tackle certain problems in certain situations.

Design patterns are solutions to recurring problems; guidelines on how to tackle certain problems

Wikipedia describes them as

In software engineering, a software design pattern is a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem within a given context in software design. It is not a finished design that can be transformed directly into source or machine code. It is a description or template for how to solve a problem that can be used in many different situations.

⚠️ Be Careful

  • Design patterns are not a silver bullet to all your problems.
  • Do not try to force them; bad things are supposed to happen, if done so.
  • Keep in mind that design patterns are solutions to problems, not solutions finding problems; so don't overthink.
  • If used in a correct place in a correct manner, they can prove to be a savior; or else they can result in a horrible mess of a code.

Also note that the code samples below are in PHP-7, however this shouldn't stop you because the concepts are same anyways.

Types of Design Patterns