Analysis

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Analysis

Pattern comparison

Reviewing 3 patterns.

Criteria
structuralAdapterView pattern
structuralFlyweightView pattern
behavioralIteratorView pattern
Basics
Categorystructuralstructuralbehavioral
SummaryConvert the interface of a class or module into another interface clients expect.——
IntentAllow incompatible interfaces to work together without changing the consuming code.Use sharing to support large numbers of fine-grained objects efficiently by separating shared intrinsic state from per-object extrinsic state.Provide a way to access elements of an aggregate sequentially while hiding the underlying representation.
Decision factors
ProblemA client needs to talk to a legacy class or external service whose interface does not match the rest of the codebase.A system creates a large number of similar objects, but storing all of their state separately uses too much memory.A collection needs to be traversed without exposing how it is stored internally.
Tradeoffs
  • Adds an extra layer of indirection.
  • Can hide useful vendor-specific capabilities if overused.
  • Keeps integration code isolated from core domain logic.
  • Adds complexity because state must be split into shared and unshared parts
  • Can be harder to understand when many objects depend on an external context
  • Can add extra classes and abstraction for simple collections
  • May be unnecessary when built-in language iteration is already enough
Practical fit
Languages
  • typescript
  • java
  • python
  • go
  • csharp
  • dotnet
  • react
  • angular
  • react-native
  • typescript
  • java
  • python
  • angular
  • react
  • react-native
  • csharp
  • dotnet
  • typescript
  • java
  • python
  • angular
  • react
  • react-native
  • csharp
  • dotnet
Platforms
  • applications
  • apis
  • service layers
  • integrations
  • Web
  • Backend
  • Mobile
  • UI kits
  • Cross-platform systems
  • Web
  • Backend
  • Mobile
  • UI kits
  • Cross-platform systems
Integration notesAdapters are useful when exposing a stable boundary over a legacy API, vendor SDK, or payload format mismatch.Flyweight is useful when thousands or millions of similar objects need to be represented efficiently, such as trees, glyphs, tiles, or UI tokens.Iterator is useful for pagination, custom collections, ordered traversal, and any case where clients should not know the internal data structure.