Analysis
Compare patterns
Evaluate design patterns side by side across intent, tradeoffs, languages, and integration fit.
Choose patterns
Select up to 3 patterns
Current selection
3 of 3 selected
You can now review the differences across the comparison table below.
Analysis
Pattern comparison
Reviewing 3 patterns.
| Criteria | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basics | |||
| Category | structural | behavioral | behavioral |
| Summary | — | — | — |
| Intent | Use sharing to support large numbers of fine-grained objects efficiently by separating shared intrinsic state from per-object extrinsic state. | Define an object that encapsulates communication between a set of objects, keeping them from referring to each other directly. | Define a subscription mechanism so multiple observers can react to subject events without the subject knowing concrete subscriber details. |
| Decision factors | |||
| Problem | A system creates a large number of similar objects, but storing all of their state separately uses too much memory. | Multiple objects need to coordinate behavior, but direct references between them create tight coupling and complex dependencies. | A system needs to notify multiple dependent objects when state changes occur, but hardcoding those dependencies makes the design rigid and tightly coupled. |
| Tradeoffs |
|
|
|
| Practical fit | |||
| Languages |
|
|
|
| Platforms |
|
|
|
| Integration notes | Flyweight is useful when thousands or millions of similar objects need to be represented efficiently, such as trees, glyphs, tiles, or UI tokens. | Mediator is useful for chat systems, form coordination, workflow orchestration, and any domain where many components must collaborate without knowing about each other. | Observers work well inside a single application boundary for UI events, domain events, and in-process notifications where subscribers change dynamically. |