AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis (Paperback)

by William J. Brown (Author), Raphael C. Malveau (Author), Hays W. "Skip" McCormick (Author), Thomas J. Mowbray (Author) "AntiPatterns represent the latest concept in a series of revolutionary changes in computer science and software engineering thinking..." (more)
Key Phrases: refactored solution, stovepipe system, architecture mining, Lava Flow, Analysis Paralysis, Golden Hammer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If patterns are good ideas that can be re-applied to new situations, AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis looks at what goes wrong in software development, time and time again. This entertaining and often enlightening text defines what seasoned developers have long suspected: despite advances in software engineering, most software projects still fail to meet expectations--and about a third are cancelled altogether.

The authors of AntiPatterns draw on extensive industry experience, their own and others, to help define what's wrong with software development today. They outline reasons why problem patterns develop (such as sloth, avarice, and greed) and proceed to outline several dozen patterns that can give you headaches or worse.

Their deadliest hit list begins with the Blob, where one object does most of the work in a project, and Continuous Obsolescence, where technology changes so quickly that developers can't keep up. Some of the more entertaining antipatterns include the Poltergeist (where do-nothing classes add unnecessary overhead), the Boat Anchor (a white elephant piece of hardware or software bought at great cost) and the Golden Hammer (a single technology that is used for every conceivable programming problem). The authors then proceed to define antipatterns oriented toward management problems with software (including Death by Planning and Project Mismanagement, along with several miniature antipatterns, that help define why so many software projects are late and overbudget).

The authors use several big vendors' technologies as examples of today's antipatterns. Luckily, they suggest ways to overcome antipatterns and improve software productivity in "refactored solutions" that can overcome some of these obstacles. However, this is a realistic book, a mix of "Dilbert" and software engineering. A clever antidote to getting too optimistic about software development, AntiPatterns should be required reading for any manager facing a large-scale development project. --Richard Dragan

Product Description
"The AntiPatterns authors have clearly been there and done that when it comes to managing software development efforts. I resonated with one insight after another, having witnessed too many wayward projects myself. The experience in this book is palpable." -John Vlissides, IBM Research "This book allows managers, architects, and developers to learn from the painful mistakes of others. The high-level AntiPatterns on software architecture are a particularly valuable contribution to software engineering. Highly recommended!" -Kyle Brown Author of The Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion "AntiPatterns continues the trend started in Design Patterns. The authors have discovered and named common problem situations resulting from poor management or architecture control, mistakes which most experienced practitioners will recognize. Should you find yourself with one of the AntiPatterns, they even provide some clues on how to get yourself out of the situation." -Gerard Meszaros, Chief Architect, Object Systems Group Are you headed into the software development mine field? Follow someone if you can, but if you're on your own-better get the map! AntiPatterns is the map. This book helps you navigate through today's dangerous software development projects. Just look at the statistics:
* Nearly one-third of all software projects are cancelled.
* Two-thirds of all software projects encounter cost overruns in excess of 200%.
* Over 800f all software projects are deemed failures.
While patterns help you to identify and implement procedures, designs, and codes that work, AntiPatterns do the exact opposite; they let you zero-in on the development detonators, architectural tripwires, and personality booby traps that can spell doom for your project. Written by an all-star team of object-oriented systems developers, AntiPatterns identifies 40 of the most common AntiPatterns in the areas of software development, architecture, and project management. The authors then show you how to detect and defuse AntiPatterns as well as supply refactored solutions for each AntiPattern presented.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471197130
• ISBN-13: 978-0471197133
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,770 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable, usable guide to project management, August 19, 1999

By A Customer

Perhaps the title of this book is unfortunate, given the fact that those who have posted bad reviews here seem to have expected it to be an extension of the GoF Design Patterns book. (In which case they would have been better off with the GoV A System of Patterns book.) All such expectations aside, however, this book is an enjoyable guide to project management that is well worth reading. As for the criticism that it is nothing more than common sense packaged as wisdom, I would argue that common sense is nothing more than applied wisdom, and the common sense this book aims to teach is sadly lacking in too many companies today (hence the existence and popularity of Dilbert).

BTW, the reviewer who attributed the quote, "there is nothing new under the sun" to Shakespeare might be amused, given the nature of the quote itself, to find that it was originally written by Solomon (in Ecclesiastes 1:9), quite some time prior to Shakespeare! There is nothing new, indeed.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let this book be what it is., December 11, 2001

By A Customer

I can't believe the number of reviews on this site that compared the book to Design Patterns from GOF. If you bought it expecting the same, write yourself the one-star review. This book does have some problems, but it really does a whole lot of things very well.

- It's easy, and fun, to read. The authors expertly inject humor and life into a dead topic. A dull book with good ideas will rot on the shelf.

- It provides a fresh, new angle that has value. We programmers do not learn enough from war stories told around the water cooler.

- It provides the other side of the design pattern. You really do need both, and this industry needed someone to take a stab at creating a template for antipatterns. Consider health care. You need diagnostics and preventative care. Ditto for auto maintenance. Operations research has been built around building models that work while trouble shooting the kinks in a system. The authors did a noble job of seeing the vacuum and stepping up to fill it.

I find it incredible that this book has been slammed for something that it does not pretend to be. If you wrote a one star review because this book was not the second coming of the Design Patterns book, then shame on you. What you will get is a humerous look at some very real problems around software development. The bias is clearly toward project management, and that is a appropriate for a first book on antipatterns. That much was clear to me from browsing the book for a minute or two. Great job, team.

If I had a criticism, it would be that the contributions from the four authors were not better coordinated. After writing two books with two additional co-authors each, I can testify that it is a difficult problem to solve. Still, better coordination could have helped. Five stars for the writing style and the concept. That's why this book is a smashing success.

72 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better idea than execution, December 27, 2000

By	baylor (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

OK, i *know* i'm going to get beaten up for picking on a classic like this, but i just did something most people i know who own this book never do - i read the whole thing cover to cover. And here's what i learned - the authors are not very intelligent, the book is hopelessly biased towards the author's preferences (OOP and extreme programming; it also seemed CORBA heavy, but i'm not sure they actually implied CORBA was the best), the format or the way they used it was worthless, most of the points they make are unjustified (and wrong) assertions and the authors love to talk about things they have no background or experience in (a good chunk of the book is spent in an amateurish attempt at psychology, telling you about the personal insecurities and what not of people you don't like)

Bottom line, after reading this, there's nothing you can really do to change your projects or your software

i don't expect you to believe me, so let me quote some pieces of the book

Problem: email is bad because it puts things in writing. Solution: don't use it for criticism. Quote: "e-mail discussion groups send dozens of postings on all kinds of topics, including the trivial and nonessential. These lengthy discussions are time-consuming and labor-intensive."

Antipattern: Irrational Managment. Refactored Solution: Rational Decision Making. Quote: "the manager may have... personality limitations that cause them to be ineffective or irrational managers... Refactored Solution... 1. Admit you have a problem and get help."

Antipattern: Functional Decomposition. Refactored Solution: Object Oriented Reengineering. Symptoms and Consequences: "- An incredibly degenerate architecture that completely misses the point of object-oriented architecture. - No hope of ever obtaining software reuse. - Frustration and hopelessness on the part of testers." Causes: "- those who generate specifications and requirements don't necessarily have real experience with object-oriented system."

And so on and so on. Of course, if you don't see the problems in the above and think these are perfectly intelligent, realistic, constructive, actionable things to say in a book on how to improve software, then maybe this is the book for you

On a final note, the title of the book "Antipatterns - Refactoring software, architectures and projects in crisis" sounds like it applies to all systems development. Instead, the book is 100% focused on OOP. OOP is good, but i would have made that obvious on the cover so you know what you're getting. Hate to recommend this to people writing or maintaining VB, COBOL, ERP, CRM or other systems only to have them learn that there's nothing they can do with it