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Chain of Responsibilitybehavioral
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Observerbehavioral
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Statebehavioral
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Criteria	behavioralChain of ResponsibilityView pattern	behavioralObserverView pattern	behavioralStateView pattern
Basics
Category	behavioral	behavioral	behavioral
Summary	Pass a request through a sequence of handlers until one handles it or the chain ends.	—	—
Intent	Pass requests along a chain of handlers until one of them handles the request or the request reaches the end of the chain.	Define a subscription mechanism so multiple observers can react to subject events without the subject knowing concrete subscriber details.	Allow an object to alter its behavior when its internal state changes by delegating state-specific behavior to separate state objects.
Decision factors
Problem	A request must pass through multiple possible handlers, but the sender should not need to know which handler will process it.	A system needs to notify multiple dependent objects when state changes occur, but hardcoding those dependencies makes the design rigid and tightly coupled.	An object behaves differently depending on its internal state, and conditional logic is becoming hard to manage.
Tradeoffs	Requests can become harder to trace because control flows through multiple handlers. A long chain may add overhead if many handlers are checked on every request. It keeps handler logic isolated and easier to extend.	Notification flows can become hard to trace when many observers react to the same event Observers may receive updates they do not need unless subscriptions are carefully designed	Can introduce many small classes if the state graph is large State transitions may become harder to trace if spread across multiple classes
Practical fit
Languages	typescript java python angular react react-native csharp dotnet	typescript java python angular react react-native csharp dotnet	typescript java python angular react react-native csharp dotnet
Platforms	frontend backend integration	Web Backend Event-driven systems	Web Backend Mobile UI kits Cross-platform systems
Integration notes	Chain of Responsibility is useful for validation pipelines, support routing, approval flows, and any system where requests may be processed by different handlers in sequence.	Observers work well inside a single application boundary for UI events, domain events, and in-process notifications where subscribers change dynamically.	State is useful for workflows, media players, order lifecycles, and any domain where behavior changes as the object moves through a lifecycle.