Final answer:
A design pattern is a reusable solution to a common problem in software design, providing a template or blueprint for creating efficient software architectures. It helps improve the quality, maintainability, and flexibility of software systems.
Step-by-step explanation:
A design pattern is a reusable solution to a common problem that occurs in software design. It provides a template or blueprint for creating consistent and efficient software architectures or designs. The intention behind using design patterns is to improve the quality, maintainability, and flexibility of software systems by promoting best practices and reducing duplicated code.
For example, the Singleton design pattern is used to ensure that only one instance of a class is created throughout the application, which is useful in scenarios where global access to a single instance is required.
Other commonly used design patterns include the Factory Method pattern for creating objects, the Observer pattern for notifying changes to multiple objects, and the Strategy pattern for encapsulating interchangeable algorithms within a family of related classes.