Architectural Patterns in Software

Architectural patterns in software are high-level reusable solutions to common problems in software architecture. They define the overall structure and interaction style between components of a system, helping ensure scalability, maintainability, and robustness.

🏛️ What are Architectural Patterns?

Definition: An architectural pattern describes a general, reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem in software architecture.
It provides a blueprint for system organization.
They are agnostic to programming languages but implemented in code.

🔧 Common Architectural Patterns (with examples)

1. Layered Architecture (N-tier)

System is organized into layers with specific responsibilities.

🔹 Layers:

Presentation (UI)
Business Logic
Persistence
Database

💡 Example:

A Java Spring MVC application:

Controller -> Service -> Repository -> Database

✅ Used in:

Enterprise apps
Web applications

2. Client-Server Architecture

Divides system into clients (requesters) and servers (providers).

💡 Example:

A Java client using HTTPClient to call a REST API server
Web browser (client) + backend server (Spring Boot)

✅ Used in:

Web applications
Mobile apps

3. Microservices Architecture

Breaks an app into a set of small, independent services that communicate over HTTP/gRPC/message queues.

💡 Example:

In Java, services built using Spring Boot, communicating via REST APIs or Kafka

Auth Service <---> Order Service <---> Payment Service

✅ Used in:

Large-scale systems
Cloud-native apps

4. Event-Driven Architecture

Components communicate through events, enabling decoupled and reactive systems.

💡 Example:

Kafka + Spring Boot event consumers/producers

User registers --> Event published --> EmailService picks it up and sends email

✅ Used in:

Systems needing high decoupling or real-time response
Analytics platforms

5. Model-View-Controller (MVC)

Separates concerns between data (Model), UI (View), and input logic (Controller)

💡 Example:

Spring MVC or JavaFX app

User -> Controller -> Model -> View

✅ Used in:

Web frameworks
UI-heavy applications

6. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

A system where services communicate over a network using well-defined interfaces.

💡 Example:

Java services using JAX-WS (SOAP) or JAX-RS (REST)

✅ Used in:

Enterprise integrations
Legacy systems transitioning to microservices

7. Broker Architecture

Middleware (broker) coordinates communication between components.

💡 Example:

Java RMI or Apache ActiveMQ, where the broker routes requests to services.

✅ Used in:

Distributed systems
Pub/Sub messaging

8. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

No centralized server. All nodes act as both clients and servers.

💡 Example:

Java-based file-sharing app using sockets

✅ Used in:

Blockchain
File-sharing apps

9. Pipe-and-Filter

Data is transformed step by step through a series of filters connected by pipes.

💡 Example:

Data processing pipeline in Java Stream API

data.stream()
    .filter(x -> x > 10)
    .map(x -> x * 2)
    .forEach(System.out::println);

✅ Used in:

Data processing
ETL pipelines

📌 Summary Table:

Pattern	Best For	Java Examples
Layered (N-tier)	Web/Enterprise apps	Spring MVC
Client-Server	Web/mobile backend	REST APIs
Microservices	Scalable systems	Spring Boot + Eureka
Event-Driven	Asynchronous decoupled workflows	Kafka + Spring
MVC	UI separation of concerns	JavaFX, Spring MVC
SOA	Enterprise service integration	JAX-WS, JAX-RS
Broker	Mediated communication	JMS, ActiveMQ
P2P	Decentralized systems	Custom Java app
Pipe-and-Filter	Stream data transformation	Java Streams

Advanced architectural patterns go beyond foundational structures like MVC or layered architecture. They address complex, large-scale, and distributed system needs—such as scalability, availability, performance, and fault tolerance—common in modern cloud-native and enterprise applications.

🧠 What Are Advanced Architectural Patterns?

They are:

More specialized and sophisticated
Often used in high-availability, cloud-native, real-time, or enterprise-grade systems
Focused on solving distributed system problems, resilience, and scalability

🔧 Examples of Advanced Architectural Patterns

1. CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)

Separates write (command) and read (query) responsibilities into different models.

💡 Use Case:

Complex domains where read/write loads are uneven.
Example: Event-sourced order system

✅ Java Example:

Spring Boot with separate read/write services
Axon Framework

2. Event Sourcing

Stores state changes as a sequence of events, not just the latest state.

💡 Use Case:

Audit logs, history tracking, rollback
Financial transactions

✅ Java Example:

Kafka event store + custom projection logic
Axon Framework or custom event handlers

3. Saga Pattern

Manages distributed transactions across microservices using a series of local transactions coordinated via events or commands.

💡 Use Case:

E-commerce: order, payment, shipment across services

✅ Java Example:

Spring Boot + Kafka + Saga Orchestrator
Netflix Conductor or Camunda

4. Strangler Fig Pattern

Incrementally replace legacy systems by routing parts of traffic to the new system while the old system still runs.

💡 Use Case:

Modernizing a legacy Java EE monolith
Gradual migration to Spring Boot microservices

✅ Java Example:

Using API Gateway (like Spring Cloud Gateway) to redirect specific routes to new microservices

5. Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters)

Separates core logic from the outside world using interfaces (ports) and implementations (adapters).

💡 Use Case:

Isolate domain logic
Make system testable, adaptable

✅ Java Example:

Domain model interfaces + adapters (like REST or JPA)

6. Onion Architecture

Similar to Hexagonal, but layers center around the domain model, with dependencies always pointing inward.

💡 Use Case:

Rich domain-driven design
Enterprise Java apps

7. Space-Based Architecture

Distributes data and processing across multiple memory-based nodes to handle massive parallelism.

💡 Use Case:

Real-time stock trading, multiplayer games

✅ Java Example:

GigaSpaces, Hazelcast IMDG

8. Serverless Architecture

Uses function-as-a-service (FaaS) platforms where individual functions scale automatically.

💡 Use Case:

Lightweight background jobs, scheduled tasks

✅ Java Example:

Java functions in AWS Lambda, Azure Functions

9. Service Mesh

Manages microservice communication, security, and monitoring at the infrastructure level (outside app code).

💡 Use Case:

Large microservice deployments needing observability

✅ Java-Compatible Tools:

Istio + Spring Boot microservices
Envoy as sidecar proxy

📌 Summary Table:

Pattern	Best For	Tools/Tech with Java
CQRS	Read/write separation	Axon, Spring Boot
Event Sourcing	Immutable event history	Kafka, Axon
Saga	Distributed transaction mgmt	Kafka, Camunda
Strangler Fig	Legacy modernization	Spring Gateway
Hexagonal/Onion	Domain-focused design	Clean Architecture
Space-Based	In-memory parallel processing	Hazelcast, GigaSpaces
Serverless	Auto-scaling function calls	AWS Lambda
Service Mesh	Microservice traffic management	Istio, Linkerd

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Architectural Patterns in Software

🏛️ What are Architectural Patterns?

🔧 Common Architectural Patterns (with examples)

1. Layered Architecture (N-tier)

🔹 Layers:

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

2. Client-Server Architecture

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

3. Microservices Architecture

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

4. Event-Driven Architecture

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

5. Model-View-Controller (MVC)

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

6. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

7. Broker Architecture

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

8. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

9. Pipe-and-Filter

💡 Example:

✅ Used in:

📌 Summary Table:

🧠 What Are Advanced Architectural Patterns?

🔧 Examples of Advanced Architectural Patterns

1. CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

2. Event Sourcing

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

3. Saga Pattern

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

4. Strangler Fig Pattern

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

5. Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters)

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

6. Onion Architecture

💡 Use Case:

7. Space-Based Architecture

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

8. Serverless Architecture

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java Example:

9. Service Mesh

💡 Use Case:

✅ Java-Compatible Tools:

📌 Summary Table:

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