What is an anti-pattern?

Question

I am studying patterns and anti-patterns. I have a clear idea about patterns, but I don\'t get anti-patterns. Definitions from the web and Wikipedia confuse me a lot.

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Answer 1

Today, software engineering researchers and practitioners often use the terms “anti-pattern” and “smell” interchangeably. However, they are conceptually not the same. The Wikipedia entry of anti-pattern states that an anti-pattern is different from a bad practice or a bad idea by at least two factors. An anti-pattern is

"A commonly used process, structure or pattern of action that despite initially appearing to be an appropriate and effective response to a problem, typically has more bad consequences than beneficial results.”

It clearly indicates that an anti-pattern is chosen in the belief that it is a good solution (as a pattern) to the presented problem; however, it brings more liabilities than benefits. On the other hand, a smell is simply a bad practice that negatively affects the quality of a software system. For example, Singleton is an anti-pattern and God class (or Insufficient Modularization) is a design smell.