Poltergeist (Computer Science) (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In computer programming, a poltergeist (or gypsy wagon) is a short-lived, typically stateless object used to perform initialization or to invoke methods in another, more permanent class. It is considered an anti-pattern. The original definition is by Michael Akroyd 1996 - Object World West Conference: "As a gypsy wagon or a poltergeist appears and disappears mysteriously, so does this short lived object. As a consequence the code is more difficult to maintain and there is unnecessary resource waste. The typical cause for this antipattern is poor object design." A poltergeist can often be identified by its name; they are often called "manager_," "controller_," "start_process," etc. Poltergeists should not be confused with long-lived, state-bearing objects of a pattern such as Model-view-controller, or tier-separating patterns such as Business-Delegate.