Strategy Pattern Use Cases and Examples in Java

Strategy is strong when one concept has several legitimate behaviors and the system should make the choice explicit.

Strong Java Use Cases

• pricing and discount policies
• ranking or recommendation algorithms
• retry, backoff, and timeout policies
• serialization or formatting choices
• routing and partitioning rules

Weak Java Use Cases

Strategy is weak when:

• there is only one real behavior
• the branch is tiny and unlikely to grow
• callers will never meaningfully choose the behavior

Use Strategy when it clarifies algorithm choice, not just because polymorphism sounds elegant.