Summary
In this chapter, we learned that design patterns are useful abstractions that provide "best practice" solutions for common programming problems. We understood that design patterns in Python, due to its dynamic nature and built-in syntax, can look very different from their usual renditions in other languages. We discussed several patterns in detail, with examples, UML diagrams and a discussion of the differences between Python and statically typed object-oriented languages. We covered:
What design patterns are
The iterator pattern
The decorator pattern
The observer pattern
The strategy and state patterns
The template pattern
In the next chapter, we'll discuss several more useful design patterns and their application in Python.
