Intent
“Define an interface for creating an object,
but let subclasses decide which class to
instantiate”
It lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses at
run time.
It refers to the newly created object through a
common interface.
Also Known as
Virtual Constructor
The main intent of the virtual constructor
idiom in C++ is to create a copy of an object
or a new object without knowing its concrete
type and this is exactly what the Factory
Method does.
Motivation
Frameworks:
Factory Method is used in frameworks where
library code needs to create objects of types
which may be sub classed by applications using
the framework.
Since the library knows when an object needs to
be created, but not what kind of object it should
create, this being specific to the application, it can
use the Factory Method.
Motivating Examples – Cont.
Forces
We want to have a set of reusable classes
which are flexible enough to be extended.
The client does not know the type of object
that needs to be created in advance and still
wants to perform operations on them.
Applicability
Factory Method is needed when:
A class can’t anticipate the types of objects it
must create.
A class wants its subclasses to specify the
object to create.
The designer wants to localize knowledge of
helper sub classes.
Basic Structure
Creator
+FactoryMethod() ...
+AnOperation() product=FactoryMethod()
Product ...
ConcreteCreator
ConcreteProduct return new ConcreteProduct
+FactoryMethod()
Participants
Product (IHttpHandler)
Defines the interface of objects the factory method
creates.
ConcreteProduct (ASP.SamplePage_aspx)
Implements the Product Interface
Creator (IHttpHandlerFactory)
Declares the factory method and may provide a default
implementation for it.
Defines the return type as Product.
ConcreteCreator (PageHandlerFactory)
Overrides the factory method to return an instance of
ConcreteProduct.
Collaborators
The Creator relies on the subclass’s factory
method to return an instance of appropriate
ConcreteProduct object.
The Creator executes some sequence of
operations on the object or simply returns a
reference to Product (bound to the
ConcreteProduct object) to the client.
Consequences
The client code deals only with the product
interface, therefore it can work with any user
defined Concrete Product classes (decoupling
subclass details from client classes).
New concrete classes can be added without
recompiling the existing client code.
It may lead to many subclasses if the product
objects requires one or more additional
objects. (Parallel class hierarchy)
Consequences – Cont.
Manipulator
Figure
Client +DownClick()
+CreateManipulator() +Drag()
+UpClick()
LineManipulator TextManipulator
LineFigure TextFigure
+DownClick() +DownClick()
+CreateManipulator() +CreateManipulator() +Drag() +Drag()
+UpClick() +UpClick()
Here, the client needs a manipulator to handle the figure.
Rather than having the client be aware of the manipulators,
this knowledge is limited to the concrete Figure subclasses.
Implementation
Two major varieties
Abstract Creator class with no default
implementation
Concrete Creator with default
implementation.
Other variations:
Parameterized Methods
Templates
Parameterized Factory
Methods
class Creator {
public:
virtual Product* Create(ProductID id) {
if (id == P1) return new MyProduct;
if (id == P2) return new YourProduct;
// other products ...
return 0;
}
};
// You can subclass the Creator to handle more IDs
Product* MyCreator::Create(ProductID id) {
if (id == P3) return new TheirProduct;
// Handle other IDs
return this->Creator::Create(id);
};
Templatized Factory Methods
class Creator {
public:
Creator() {
// You won’t call factory method here (why?)
// Use lazy initialization instead
}
virtual Product* CreateProduct() = 0;
};
template <class T>
class StandardCreator: public Creator {
public:
virtual Product* CreateProduct() {
return new T;
}
}
// In the Client
StandardCreator<MyProduct> myCreator;
Known Uses
It is a pervasive pattern.
It is used in several places in the Java API. For
example, URLConnection has a method
getContent that returns the content as an
appropriate object (html, gif etc.)
.Net Framework Class Library
Factory method is used in:
Systems.Collections.IEnumerable,
System.Net.WebRequest
System.Security.Cryptography
Related Patterns
Abstract Factory
Template Methods
Prototypes
References
Design Patterns, Elements of Reusable
Object-Oriented Software, Erich Gamma, et.
al., Addison-Wesley, 1994,
ISBN 0-201-63361-2
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2003
/08/11/factorypattern.html
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/More_C%2B%2
B_Idioms/Virtual_Constructor
