Part of the Programming glossary:

An antipattern is a frequently used, but largely ineffective solution to a problem. The term was originally used to refer to a pattern gone wrong. Just as a viable pattern describes the way from a problem to a valid solution, an antipattern describes the way from a problem to a poor solution. Furthermore, by adding more difficulties to the ones that originally existed, an antipattern may leave you in a worse position than before you started. Several writers have published books or papers on how to recognize and avoid adopting an antipattern, especially in developing computer programming.

Next Steps

The term amelioration pattern (to ameliorate means to improve, and especially to improve a bad situation) was coined for a pattern that describes how to go from a bad solution to a better one.

This was last updated in August 2005
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Related Terms

Definitions

  • glocalization

    - Glocalization is the concept that in a global market, a product or service is more likely to succeed when it is customized for the locality or culture in which it is sold.  (SearchCIO.com)

  • Apache Lucene

    - Apache Lucene is a freely available information retrieval software library that works with fields of text within document files. This evolving venture is also called the Apache Lucene Project. (WhatIs.com)

  • polynomial interpolation

    - Polynomial interpolation is a method of estimating values between known data points. When graphical data contains a gap, but data is available on either side of the gap or at a few specific points ... (WhatIs.com)

Glossaries

  • Programming

    - Terms related to software programming, including definitions about programming languages and words and phrases about software design, coding, testing and debugging.

  • Internet applications

    - This WhatIs.com glossary contains terms related to Internet applications, including definitions about Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models and words and phrases about web sites, e-commerce ...

Dig Deeper

  • Is Having a Build Specialist an Anti-Pattern?

    Kief Morris asserts that having a professional on the team dedicated to managing the build process is an anti-pattern. Of course, any investor knows the virtue of a diversified portfolio, and havin... ()

  • Service patterns and anti-patterns

    MSDN has released a new article on Principles of Service Design that show patterns for creating a SOA as well as anti-patterns (what NOT to do). The paper is the first in a series and starts with a... ()

  • How .NET fits in SOA patterns

    SOA may have sneaked up on .NET but like the rest of the software industry, Microsoft's Patterns& Practices group is taking it seriously. Ron Jacobs, product manager for the Microsoft patterns & pr... ()

Continue Reading About antipattern

Fast References

People Who Read This Also Read...

Ask a Question. Find an Answer.Powered by ITKnowledgeExchange.com

Ask An IT Question

Get answers from your peers on your most technical challenges

Ask Question

Tech TalkComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top