Pattern · Advanced

Abstract Factory

Create whole FAMILIES of related objects (a Button + a Checkbox that match) through one factory, guaranteeing the pieces always belong together.

Asked atAmazonMicrosoftAdobe
step 1 / 7
One factory, a whole family
«interface»
GUIFactory
+ makeButton()
+ makeCheckbox()
WinFactory
MacFactory
«interface»
Button
«interface»
Checkbox
One factory, a whole family
 1interface GUIFactory {
 2    Button   makeButton();    // one method per product
 3    Checkbox makeCheckbox();  //   in the family
 4}
 5class WinFactory implements GUIFactory { ... }  // all-Windows
 6class MacFactory implements GUIFactory { ... }  // all-Mac
 7 
 8GUIFactory f = onMac ? new MacFactory() : new WinFactory();
 9Button   b = f.makeButton();
10Checkbox k = f.makeCheckbox();   // guaranteed to match b
State
factoryone method per product
✦

GUIFactory declares makeButton() and makeCheckbox() — one create-method per product in the family.