Boat Anchor

Unused code kept “just in case”.

“Code that serves no purpose but remains in the codebase.” – Brown et al.

Code that serves no purpose.

Signs of Use (Symptoms)

  • Classes or methods with no callers in the entire project.
  • Variables defined but never used.
  • Libraries imported but not used.

Why it is bad (Consequences)

  • Cognitive Load: Developers waste time reading/maintaining useless code.
  • Confusion: “Do we need this? Does it do something magic?”
  • Bloat: Increases build times and bundle sizes.

Why it happens (Root Cause)

Speculative programming (“we might need this later”) or forgetting to cleanup after refactoring.

When it might be okay (Exceptions)

  • Public library APIs (functions exist for consumers, even if library doesn’t use them).

Explanation

Problem

A specific feature was removed, but the helper classes for it were left behind because “it was good code”.

The Flaw

YAGNI (You Aren’t Gonna Need It). Version control exists for a reason.

Real world analogy

Keeping a broken toaster in your kitchen because “maybe I’ll fix it someday” or “maybe I’ll need parts.” It just takes up counter space.

Refactoring Solution

  • Delete it: Use your IDE to find unused references and remove them.
  • Git: Relies on source control to restore if ever needed.

Pros and Cons (of the Antipattern)

Pros (Why people do it) Cons (The price you pay)
  • “Just in case”
    		•
  • Clutter
  • Maintenance overhead
    		•

    Comparison

    • Related Antipatterns: Lava Flow, Dead Code, Speculative Generality.
    • Related Principles: YAGNI, KISS.

    Code example

    Typescript

    Bad (The Antipattern)

    Good (The Fix)

    PHP

    Bad (The Antipattern)

    Good (The Fix)