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Factory Design pattern [Creational]

The factory method pattern allows callers to create instances of objects by only knowing the protocol or the top level base class and not the exact implementation classes.

  • Callers will never know any details about the implementation classes.
  • The factory method incorporates the logic required to decide which implementation class to instantiate based on the criteria supplied by the caller.
  • Callers must not know all the implementation classes, just the protocol or the base class.
  • Depending components must only know about the protocol or the base class and the class exposing the factory method.
  • This pattern allows changing the existing implementation classes or adding new ones without exposing these details to the components that rely on them.
  • Factory Method: creation through inheritance. Prototype: creation through delegation.

The factory method selects the implementation class to instantiate based on the criteria supplied by the caller. The caller must know only a single type.

Example: Color Palette – User needs to mention the name of the palette and all colors with respect to that set will be populated and ready.

Color Palette – User needs to mention the name of the palette and all colors with respect to that set will be populated and ready.

Summary : The factory method pattern is a good choice if we want to prevent exposing all implementation classes to our callers.

_Note that the factory method design pattern cannot be applied when there is no common protocol or shared base class. _

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