Finite State Machine / State Explosion
Kind: tension
Record: tension:finite-state-machine-state-explosion
Canonical: Schema
"finite-state-machine" (design-patterns-core layer) is traded against "State Explosion" (design-patterns-core layer) — a principle cannot be scope-separated from a quality, metric, or cost it competes with; resolve by measuring "State Explosion" and choosing an explicit operating point.
Listed in Tensions, after Null Object Pattern / Silent No-Op Risk and before Statecharts / Tooling Complexity.