Factory Method Design Pattern in C#

The Factory Method Design Pattern belongs to the Creational Design Pattern Category.As part of this article, we will discuss this design pattern in detail with example

What is Factory Method Design Pattern

As per Gang of Four, the Factory Method Design Pattern states that Defines an interface for creating an object but lets the subclasses decide which class to instantiate. The Factory method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.

In simple words, The Factory Method Design Pattern is used when we create the object without exposing the object creation logic to the client. In the factory method design pattern, we will create an abstract class as the Factory class, which will create and return the product instance, but it will let the subclasses decide which class to instantiate.

The Key Components:

1. Factory Interface/Abstract Class:This serves as a blueprint for an interface or an abstract class that contains a method for creating objects. Typically, this method is named something like 'createProduct()' or 'factoryMethod()'.
2. Concrete Factories:These are tangible classes that implement the factory interface. They provide specific implementations of the 'createProduct()' method. Each concrete factory is responsible for producing a particular type of product.
3. Product Interface/Abstract Class:This defines an interface or an abstract class for the products generated by the factories. Product classes usually share common attributes or methods.
4. Concrete Products:These are the real-deal classes that implement the product interface. Each concrete product embodies a specific type of object.

Factory Design Pattern in C#

The Factory Design Pattern is one of the most frequently used design patterns in real-time applications. The Factory Design Pattern in C# falls under the Creational Design Patterns Category.

What is Factory Design Pattern in C#?

Let us first try to understand the definitions of the factory design pattern.

According to Gang of Four (GoF), the Factory Design Pattern states that A factory is an object used for creating other objects. In technical terms, we can say that a factory is a class with a method. That method will create and return different objects based on the received input parameter.

In simple words, when we have a main class(super class) and several different types of classes(subclasses) that are related to it, and we want to make an object from one of these related classes based on some information, we use something called the Factory Design Pattern in C#.

The Key Components:

1. Product Interface/Abstract Class:This defines an interface or an abstract class for the products generated by the factories. Product classes usually share common attributes or methods.
2. Concrete Products:These are the real-deal classes that implement the product interface. Each concrete product embodies a specific type of object.
3. Factory Class:This class contains a method for creating objects.Typically, this method is named something like 'createProduct()' or 'factoryMethod()'.