Have you encountered the anti-pattern 'Beautiful Columns'? What problems can it cause and how to deal with them?

Yes, I have encountered this. 'Beautiful Pillars' is an anti-pattern where code performing similar operations is duplicated with minimal changes instead of extracting common logic into reusable functions or classes.

Problems:

• Code repetition (DRY violation): Complicates maintenance and modifications.
• Risk of errors: Changing one "column" without updating others leads to inconsistency and bugs.
• Readability issues: A large amount of nearly identical code makes understanding the overall picture difficult.
• Increased code size: Excessive code takes up more space and increases compilation time.

Solutions:

• Refactoring: Extract common logic into functions or methods.
• Parameterization: Use parameters to pass changing data.
• Design patterns: Apply appropriate patterns (e.g., Strategy, Template Method).
• Abstractions: Create base classes or interfaces for common properties and behaviors.

Example of refactoring:

// Bad: "Beautiful Pillars"
fun processDataA(value: Int) {
    // Much similar code
    val result1 = value * 2
    println("Processing A with $result1")
    // Other similar code
}

fun processDataB(value: Int) {
    // Duplicating similar code
    val result2 = value * 3
    println("Processing B with $result2")
    // Other similar code
}

// Good: Refactored
fun processData(value: Int, multiplier: Int, type: String) {
    val result = value * multiplier
    println("Processing $type with $result")
    // Common logic
}

fun usageExample() {
    processData(10, 2, "A")
    processData(10, 3, "B")
}