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An if/else becomes a good candidate for the Strategy pattern when its branches are interchangeable ways to perform the same job, and those alternatives change or multiply enough that keeping them together makes the code harder to understand or maintain. There is no branch-count threshold: a short, stable conditional is often clearer than a set of extra classes.
What makes a conditional a Strategy candidate?
Look at what the branches do, not how many there are. Strategy fits when each branch implements a different version of one algorithm, such as calculating a shipping cost or finding a route. The surrounding code can then delegate that job through a shared interface or callable boundary, while a caller or policy selects the implementation.
For example, road, walking, cycling, and public-transit route planning are different ways to solve the same route-building problem. A route planner can pass that work to whichever algorithm is appropriate. The pattern is useful because the alternatives share a role, not simply because the original code contains a conditional. Refactoring Guru’s Strategy overview describes this structure and route-planning example.
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Use change and cohesion—not branch count—as the test
A conditional is more likely to need refactoring when its alternatives are added or revised regularly, do the same kind of work in different ways, or require edits to a central class whenever one variant changes. A compact conditional for a small, stable set of cases may remain easier to follow.
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Kai, writing on DEV Community, suggests that two or three types that rarely change can stay conditional. That is a practical rule of thumb, not a measured cutoff. As Kai puts it, “A pattern is a trade, not a trophy.” Kai’s DEV Community article uses shipping-cost calculation to illustrate the decision: as shipping rules become independently changing alternatives, each can implement the same calculation contract and the caller can delegate to the selected one.
Ask these questions before extracting a Strategy
- What varies? Are these interchangeable algorithms for one job, or several unrelated actions grouped together?
- How often does it change? Are new variants or rule changes common, or are the cases unlikely to move?
- Who should choose? Should a caller or policy select the behavior, or does the object’s own state determine it?
- Will the boundary pay for itself? Will naming and isolating each algorithm make the code easier to read and extend, or add indirection without a real benefit?
- What does the language make simplest? A function, lambda, or handler map may express the boundary more cleanly than a class hierarchy.
A practical way to refactor
- Keep the direct conditional first. Do not introduce a pattern solely to eliminate an
if/else. - Name the changing work. Extract the algorithm into a method so its purpose is visible and its callers are simpler.
- Introduce a strategy boundary when needed. If genuinely interchangeable implementations are changing independently and the conditional has become costly to modify, let the surrounding code delegate through a shared contract or callable.
- Keep selection explicit. Make it easy to find where the chosen strategy comes from; the pattern should clarify responsibility, not hide it.
This is a useful progression, not a universal rule. A simple conditional that selects parameters for the same method may be best left as-is or split into clearer methods.
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Distinguish Strategy from State
Strategy is for choosing among interchangeable algorithms. State is for behavior that changes as an object’s internal condition changes, often affecting more than one isolated operation. The structures can look similar because both may delegate behavior to another object; the reason for delegation is different.
If a type code only chooses an algorithm, Strategy may fit. If that code represents the object’s broader condition and governs other actions or transitions, consider State instead. Refactoring Guru’s State overview explains the state-dependent model.
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When polymorphism may be the better refactoring
If similar conditionals recur across methods or classes because behavior depends on an object’s type or properties, the behavior may belong with the relevant type. Replacing a conditional with polymorphism can help in that situation. It is not a reason to remove every switch: when cases merely select parameters for the same operation, polymorphism may add more structure than value. Refactoring Guru’s discussion of switch statements covers these alternatives.
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