List of software anti-patterns

Anti-patterns are commonly used ways of doing software engineering that are not useful or cause more issues than they solve. See design patterns for the opposite. There are many diverse types of software anti-patterns. Some relate to software design, object-oriented programming, computer programming, methodological, configuration management, DevOps, and other aspects of software engineering. Several books have popularized the idea and teaching of anti-patterns.^[1][2]

Anti-patterns can be found in anything that has organization, from project management to cultures,^[3] but this list focuses solely on software and computer science anti-patterns.

List of generic software design anti-patterns

• Abstraction inversion

• Ambiguous viewpoint

• Big ball of mud

• Database-as-IPC

• Inner-platform effect

• Input kludge

• Interface bloat

• Magic pushbutton

• Race hazard

• Stovepipe system

List of object-oriented anti-patterns

• Anemic domain model

• Call super

• Circle–ellipse problem

• Circular dependency

• Constant interface

• God object

• Object cesspool

• Object orgy

• Poltergeists

• Sequential coupling

• Yo-yo problem

List of programming anti-patterns

• Accidental complexity

• Action at a distance

• Boat anchor

• Busy waiting

• Caching failure

• Cargo cult programming

• Coding by exception

• Error hiding

• Hard code

• Lasagna code

• Lava flow

• Loop-switch sequence

• Magic numbers

• Magic strings

• Repeating yourself

• Shooting the messenger

• Shotgun surgery

• Soft code

• Spaghetti code

List of methodological anti-patterns

• Copy and paste programming

• Golden hammer

• Invented here

• Not invented here or (NIH) syndrome

• Premature optimization

• Programming by permutation (or "programming by accident", or "programming by coincidence")

• Reinventing the square wheel

• Silver bullet

• Tester-driven development

List of configuration management anti-patterns

• Dependency hell

• DLL hell

• Extension conflict

• JAR hell

See also

• List of software architecture styles and patterns
• Software design pattern
• Anti-pattern
• AntiPatterns