Design Patterns for Mobile Development

Design patterns are reusable solutions to common software development problems. They have had a significant impact on software development, including mobile app development. The implementation of mobile apps has established some proven models and standards to overcome the challenges and limitations of mobile app development.

Most mobile applications were built with low code and were not based on architecture. Mobile app development with the right design patterns can effectively integrate user interfaces with data models and business logic. This will affect the quality of your source code.

There are very few architectural design patterns available for mobile development.

Model View Controller (MVC) Architecture

MVC is a design model that separates an application into three interacting parts: Model, View, and Controller. This separation allows for better code design and modularization.

Model View Controller

• Model: Represents application data and business logic.
• View: Displays data to the user.
• Controller: Processes user input and controls data flow between Model and View.

For Example:

Imagine a mobile weather app. The model stores weather information, the View displays it to the user, and the controller handles user interactions such as updating the displayed location or converting units (e.g. from Celsius to Fahrenheit).

Model View Presenter (MVP) Architecture

MVP is a new architecture that separates an application into three parts: Model, View, and Presenter. This is similar to MVC but puts more responsibility on the Teacher to manage the interaction between Model and View.

Model View Presenter

• Model: Manages data and business logic.
• View: Represents the user interface.
• Designer: Acts as an intermediary processing user input and updating the View and Model.

For Example:

In a note-taking app, the Model would store the text, the View would display it, and the provider would handle user input such as typing, editing, or deletes the process.

Model View View Model (MVVM) Architecture

MVVM is a design model widely used in mobile development, especially in frameworks like Android’s Jetpack. Its purpose is to separate the application into three parts: Model, View, and ViewModel.

Model View View Model

• Model: Represents data and business logic.
• View: Represents the user interface.
• ViewModel: Acts as an interface between the Model and the View, which contains the reference logic.

For Example:

In an e-commerce application, the Model contains product data, the View displays product information, and the ViewModel manages interactions, such as adding items to a cart.

VIPER Architecture

VIPER stands for View, Interactor, Presenter, Entity, and Router. VIPER is primarily based at the clean architecture ideas, which purpose to separate the concerns of different layers of the utility. Each layer has a single duty and communicates with different layers through properly-defined interfaces.

VIPER Architecture

Let’s briefly explain the function of every element:

• View: This is the consumer interface layer, wherein the perspectives and look at controllers are defined. The view is chargeable for showing the information provided by way of the presenter and forwarding the person moves to the presenter.
• Presenter: This is the presentation layer, where the good judgment for formatting and imparting the records is defined. The presenter is liable for fetching the records from the interactor, reworking it right into a suitable layout for the view, and updating the view hence. The presenter additionally handles the consumer movements acquired from the view and calls the router to navigate to other screens.
• Interactor: This is the enterprise good judgment layer, where the common sense for manipulating the data and interacting with external services is described. The interactor is accountable for gaining access to the facts from the service layer, acting any vital operations on it, and returning it to the presenter. The interactor additionally communicates with the entity layer to store and retrieve the information fashions.
• Entity: This is the information layer, wherein the data models and systems are described. The entity is responsible for representing the data in a constant and coherent manner throughout the software. The entity layer also can encompass records get entry to gadgets (DAOs) or repositories that summary the information of records patience and retrieval.
• Router: This is the navigation layer, where the logic for routing and transitioning among different monitors is defined. The router is chargeable for developing and providing the view controllers, passing any vital facts to them, and coping with any dependencies or configurations. The router also communicates with the presenter to get hold of the navigation requests and execute them.

Singleton Method Design Pattern

The singleton policy ensures that there is only one instance of a class and provides global access. This is especially useful when you want to manage a single instance of an object or control access to a delayed object.

For Example:

Singleton can be used to manage player’s score in mobile game. There can only be one instance that is responsible for tracking scores and is updated throughout the game.

Factory Method Design Pattern

The Factory Method model defines an interface for creating an object but allows subclasses to modify the type of the created object. Especially useful when you need to create objects with a common interface but different functionality.

For Example:

In a mobile app that supports multiple payment gateways, payments can be made using the Factory Method. Each payment gateway (e.g., PayPal, Stripe) is a small business and provides its services.

Observer Method Design Pattern

The observer structure defines one to many dependencies between objects, so when one object changes its state, all its dependents are automatically notified and updated. This is useful for scheduling distributed events.

For Example:

In the reports app, many features (Observers) such as the title widget, the report feed view, and the notification provider (Themes) can subscribe to updates when new information arrives. The observer model ensures that they are created all registered parts report, and accordingly You can update it.

Dependency Injection (DI) Method Design Pattern

Dependency Injection is a method of providing class dependencies from the outside, rather than creating them in the class. It improves code modularity and testability by making classes independent of their dependencies.

For Example:

In an Android app, instead of creating a single database connection object in the class, you can place the database object externally, allowing you to easily test and modify database operations.

Adapter Method Design Pattern

The adapter configuration allows you to use the interface of an existing class as a link to a new one. It is often used to work with others without modifying the source code of existing classes.

For Example:

If you want to use a third-party library that provides data in a different way, you can create an adapter that will convert the library’s results to the format your app would expect and make sure that they are compatible meet without changing the library code.

Strategy Method Design Pattern

The strategy model defines a family of algorithms, contains each of them, and provides them with flexibility. It allows you to select the appropriate algorithm at runtime. This example is useful when you want to provide different options for a task.

For Example:

In a weather application, you can use various methods to retrieve weather information, such as using a REST API, WebSocket, or local storage. The user can change these options, and the app adapts to his preferences.

Composite Method Design Pattern

A composite pattern allows you to arrange objects in a tree structure to represent a part-of-the-whole structure. This is helpful when you have to deal with individual objects and sets of objects accurately.

For Example:

You can use Composite pattern to create complex shapes from simple shapes in the mobile drawing app. Complex designs can contain individual designs, allowing users to manipulate and categorize resources as needed.

Conclusion

Design processes play an important role in mobile app development by providing proven solutions to common software design challenges. Using this framework allows developers to create maintainable, extensible, and efficient applications. Understanding when and how to apply these options can significantly improve the quality of your mobile app codebase. Whether you’re working for Android, iOS, or any other mobile platform, a solid understanding of these design patterns will allow you to create robust, scalable mobile applications