Design Patterns Understanding and Use in the Automotive Industry: An Interview Study

Automotive software is increasing in complexity, leading to new challenges for designers and developers. Design patterns, which offer reusable solutions to common design problems, are a potential way to deal with this complexity. Although design patterns have received much focus in academic publications, it is not clear how they are used in practice. This paper presents an interview-based study that explores the use of design patterns in the automotive industry. The study findings reveal how automotive practitioners view and use design patterns in their software designs. Our study revealed that industry experts have a view of design patterns which often differs from the academic views. They use design patterns in combination with architecture guidelines, principles, and frameworks. Instead of the academic focus on the design patterns, industry professionals focus on the design, architectural tactics, and standards. Such findings highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of the concept and practical applications of design patterns within the context of industrial software engineering practices.