Design Patterns Are Like the META
01 Dec 2022
What is the "meta"?
Design patterns are general solutions to common problems/scenarios in software development. This is very similar to how the M.E.T.A (colloquially referred to as “meta”) in MOBAs like League of Legends works. M.E.T.A stands for the “most effective tactic available”, meaning whatever is the most effective way to win and be successful - at that point in time (because League of Legends has balance patches every couple weeks). Champions (the playable characters) that are “meta” or “in meta” are ones that are strong in general, no matter what champions are on their team (or the enemy’s’) or how the other 9 players in the game play. In a solo queue setting (as in, when a player plays the game by him/herself, the most common setting most players will be in), champions that generally have a higher impact on the outcome of the game tend to be better.
How They Are Similar
The meta is similar to design patterns because the most common scenario in League of Legends is being in a lobby with 4 strangers on your team, and 5 strangers on the enemy team, and having no idea of their skill level or determination to win the game. The general solutions to this common scenario are the “meta” champions - champions that are generally good no matter what crazy shenanigans happen during champion select or in the game itself. The meta is similar to design patterns in another way, in that they aren’t always the best solution to the problem. For example, you could pick what is considered a “meta champion”, but if the enemy team’s champions do well against yours, it can’t exactly be called a good pick. Similarly, in software development, even if you have one of these generally good solutions, there might be a slightly better one for your specific needs.
Coming Into and Falling Out of the Meta
With the game changing so frequently, it’s fairly easy to notice shifts in the meta over the course of a year. When there are system changes or buffs/nerfs to items, or even buffs/nerfs to champions directly, champions will come into or fall out of the meta. While probably not as frequent or noticeable, things coming into and falling out of the meta for software development is like when new things like Bootstrap are created and come in and effectively replace things like Semantic UI, because (for the time being) they are better.