Analysis
Compare patterns
Evaluate design patterns side by side across intent, tradeoffs, languages, and integration fit.
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Analysis
Pattern comparison
Reviewing 3 patterns.
| Criteria | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basics | |||
| Category | structural | structural | behavioral |
| Summary | Convert the interface of a class or module into another interface clients expect. | Provide a simplified high-level interface that coordinates a complex subsystem behind a smaller and easier-to-use API. | — |
| Intent | Allow incompatible interfaces to work together without changing the consuming code. | Provide a simplified high-level interface that coordinates a complex subsystem behind a smaller and easier-to-use API. | Provide a way to access elements of an aggregate sequentially while hiding the underlying representation. |
| Decision factors | |||
| Problem | A client needs to talk to a legacy class or external service whose interface does not match the rest of the codebase. | A client needs to perform a recurring workflow that spans several subsystem classes, but direct coordination makes the code noisy and tightly coupled. | A collection needs to be traversed without exposing how it is stored internally. |
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| Practical fit | |||
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| Integration notes | Adapters are useful when exposing a stable boundary over a legacy API, vendor SDK, or payload format mismatch. | Facades are useful when exposing a stable boundary over a multi-service or mixed-language backend, or when presenting a consistent UI entry point over multiple readiness checks. | Iterator is useful for pagination, custom collections, ordered traversal, and any case where clients should not know the internal data structure. |