State Pattern Best Practices

Master complex application states with design patterns that enhance maintainability and scalability. This guide explores modern solutions for managing state complexity in web applications.

Core Pattern Types

  • •
    Stateless patterns
  • •
    Mutable state management
  • •
    State machines
  • •
    Context patterns
State A State B

State Pattern Types

Finite State Machines

Predefined state transitions

Immutable transitions

State validation required

Mutable State

Encapsulated state objects

Observer pattern

Mutable state updates

Context Pattern

Shared state encapsulation

Decoupled components

Cross-service state

State Services

Singleton state management

Fine-grained control

State persistence

State Machine Implementation


const StateMachine = {
  states: {
    idle: {
      on: {
        START: 'playing'
      }
    },
    playing: {
      on: {
        PAUSE: 'paused'
      }
    },
    paused: {
      on: {
        RESUME: 'playing',
        STOP: 'idle'
      }
    }
  },
  context: {}
};

const player = useMachine(StateMachine);

Common State Anti-Patterns

State Pollution

  • • Untracked state mutations
  • • Global state sprawl
  • • Tight component coupling

Brittle Transitions

  • • Unvalidated state changes
  • • Missing transition guards
  • • Infinite state loops

Pattern Comparison

Pattern Mutability Predictability Use Cases
State Machine Fixed High Player states
State Service Mutable Medium Form validation
Context Pattern Mutable High Global theming