This section is about common antipatterns that arise when API proxies are deployed
on Apigee.
What is an antipattern?
An antipattern is a software
design practice that is ineffective or
counterproductive—in other words, the opposite of a "best practice."
To put it another way, an antipattern is something that the software allows you to do, but
that may have an adverse functional or performance impact.
For example, consider the omnipotent-sounding "God Class/Object". In objected oriented
programming, a god class is a class that controls too many classes
for a given application, as illustrated by the following reference tree:
Figure 1: God class
As the image illustrates, the god class uses and references too many classes.
The framework on which the application was developed does not prevent the creation of such a
class, but it has many disadvantages, the primary ones being:
Hard to maintain
Single point of failure when the application runs
Consequently, such a class is an antipattern that you should avoid creating.
The good news is that you can identify these antipatterns and rectify them with
appropriate best practices, which will make the APIs you deploy on Apigee best serve their intended
purpose.
Summary of antipatterns
The following table lists some common API antipatterns:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis documentation outlines common antipatterns encountered when deploying API proxies on Apigee and Apigee hybrid.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn antipattern is a software design practice that is ineffective or counterproductive, potentially causing adverse functional or performance impacts, as opposed to a best practice.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAntipatterns, such as a "God Class" in object-oriented programming, are undesirable practices that can lead to maintenance issues and single points of failure.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSeveral policy, generic, and backend antipatterns are detailed, including issues related to caching, quota management, and managing Apigee resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document also provides a link to download a comprehensive eBook that goes over these antipatterns.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Introduction to antipatterns\n\n*You're viewing **Apigee** and **Apigee hybrid** documentation.\nView [Apigee Edge](https://docs.apigee.com/api-platform/antipatterns/intro) documentation.*\n\nThis section is about common antipatterns that arise when API proxies are deployed\non Apigee.\n\nWhat is an antipattern?\n-----------------------\n\nAn [*antipattern*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern) is a software\ndesign practice that is ineffective or\ncounterproductive---in other words, the opposite of a \"best practice.\"\nTo put it another way, an antipattern is something that the software allows you to do, but\nthat may have an adverse functional or performance impact.\n\nFor example, consider the omnipotent-sounding \"God Class/Object\". In objected oriented\nprogramming, a *god class* is a class that controls too many classes\nfor a given application, as illustrated by the following reference tree:\n**Figure 1**: God class\n\nAs the image illustrates, the god class uses and references too many classes.\n\nThe framework on which the application was developed does not prevent the creation of such a\nclass, but it has many disadvantages, the primary ones being:\n\n- Hard to maintain\n- Single point of failure when the application runs\n\nConsequently, such a class is an antipattern that you should avoid creating.\n\nThe good news is that you can identify these antipatterns and rectify them with\nappropriate best practices, which will make the APIs you deploy on Apigee best serve their intended\npurpose.\n\nSummary of antipatterns\n-----------------------\n\nThe following table lists some common API antipatterns:\n\n### Download antipatterns eBook\n\nIn addition to the links above, you can also download the antipatterns in eBook format:\n\n- [The Book of Apigee Antipatterns v2.0 (PDF)](https://docs.apigee.com/files/Apigee_Edge_Antipatterns_2_0.pdf)"]]
