Analysis

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Analysis

Pattern comparison

Reviewing 3 patterns.

Criteria
structuralCompositeView pattern
structuralProxyView pattern
behavioralTemplate MethodView pattern
Basics
Categorystructuralstructuralbehavioral
SummaryCompose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies and let clients work with individual and composite objects through the same interface.——
IntentCompose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies and let clients work with individual and composite objects through the same interface.Provide a surrogate or placeholder for another object to control access to it.Define the skeleton of an algorithm in a base class and let subclasses override selected steps without changing the overall structure.
Decision factors
ProblemA system needs to treat individual objects and groups of objects uniformly, but the hierarchy becomes difficult to manage with separate code paths.A client needs to interact with an object indirectly because the real object may be expensive, sensitive, or remote.Several classes share the same algorithm structure, but some steps need to vary between implementations.
Tradeoffs
  • Can make the design more abstract and harder to follow.
  • May require careful handling of operations that only apply to some nodes in the tree.
  • Makes recursive tree operations and client code much simpler.
  • Adds another layer of indirection
  • Can make the design more complex when the extra control is unnecessary
  • Relies on inheritance, which can be less flexible than composition in some designs
  • May create a deep class hierarchy if many variations are needed
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
  • web
  • backend
  • mobile
  • ui kits
  • cross-platform systems
  • Web
  • Backend
  • Mobile
  • UI kits
  • Cross-platform systems
  • Web
  • Backend
  • Mobile
  • UI kits
  • Cross-platform systems
Integration notesComposite is useful when a hierarchy of nested objects should expose a common interface, such as files and folders, menus and submenus, org charts, widget trees, or scene graphs.Proxy is useful for lazy loading, access control, caching, logging, and remote service wrappers.Template Method is useful when you have repeated workflows with a common sequence of steps, such as processing orders, generating reports, and importing data.