What is a programming pattern?

Programming patterns, or design patterns, at they're more commonly referred to, are reusable and widely-implemented solutions to a given problem. That is not to say that these patterns exist as some sort of libraries out there, although there are libraries based on them. Instead, a programming pattern is more of an idea or a strategy. It is a well laid out plan on tackling a certain problem, the best possible answer to a given problematic situation, proven by time and experience, which is one of the the best reasons they should be used.

There are quite a few design patterns out there, as well as books, tutorials and even classes dedicated solely to understanding and implementing them. For our purposes, we're going to be covering four: the entity component system, event queue, observer and factory patterns. We'll be talking about each one separately, as they're non overlapping in function, even though they can be working together.