Shaylon Mizukami

Navigating the Architecture of Design Patterns

24 Apr 2025

When I first encountered design patterns in my studies, I struggled to see their relevance to my interests in game development and RF engineering. They seemed like abstract concepts far removed from the real-time systems and signal processing I worked with. However, as I delved deeper into both fields, I discovered design patterns are just as crucial in these domains as in enterprise software - they just manifest differently.

In game engines, I found patterns like Observer handling event systems for player inputs, while RF systems used Singleton-like approaches for hardware controller access. This realization shattered my initial skepticism - patterns weren’t academic exercises but practical tools refined across multiple engineering disciplines. They represent cross-domain wisdom for solving recurring architectural challenges, whether managing game object behaviors or structuring signal processing pipelines.

Patterns as Shared Vocabulary

In game development, design patterns form the backbone of engine architecture. The Component pattern, for instance, is fundamental to entity-component systems used in Unity and Unreal. Rather than deep inheritance hierarchies, game objects become compositions of reusable behaviors - much like how RF systems modularize signal processing blocks.

The State pattern proves invaluable in both domains. In games, it manages character behaviors (idle/running/jumping), while in RF systems it handles device modes (transmit/receive/standby). Recognizing this pattern helped me design more maintainable state machines for my SDR (Software Defined Radio) projects.

The Observer pattern shines in both fields. Game UI elements observe player stats, just as spectrum analyzers observe RF power measurements. This decoupling is crucial when I need to add new visualizations without modifying core signal processing code.

Misuse and Overengineering

Early in my RF projects, I overapplied the Factory pattern to create different modulation scheme handlers, resulting in unnecessary complexity. Similarly, in game development, I once implemented an elaborate Strategy pattern for enemy AI that would have been simpler with basic conditionals.

These experiences taught me that in performance-critical domains like games and RF systems, patterns must justify their overhead. A Singleton for global game settings makes sense, but not for temporary signal buffers. The Decorator pattern works well for adding graphical effects, but might introduce unacceptable latency in real-time signal chains.

Why Learning Them Matters

In game physics engines, recognizing the Flyweight pattern helps optimize memory usage for particle systems. In RF, the Pipeline pattern structures digital signal processing flows. Understanding these patterns lets me:

When optimizing a game’s asset loading system, the Proxy pattern provided lazy loading benefits similar to how we buffer RF samples. These cross-domain applications demonstrate the universal value of design patterns.

Patterns as a Mindset, Not a Checklist

The best applications of patterns in my projects have been subtle. In a recent RF geolocation project, the Strategy pattern naturally emerged for different positioning algorithms without forcing it. Similarly, my game prototypes now organically use State patterns where appropriate, rather than as design exercises.

Moving forward, I’m focusing on how patterns solve real problems in these domains - like using the Command pattern for game replay systems or the Adapter pattern for integrating different RF hardware APIs. The patterns themselves matter less than developing an intuition for clean, maintainable architectures in both game and RF systems.



The essay above used DeepSeek for spelling and grammar correction/suggestions.