Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design

Field Notes: The Abstract Factory Pattern

Deciding which factory object is needed is really the same as determining which family of objects to use. For example, in the preceding driver problem, I had one family for low-resolution drivers and another family for high-resolution drivers. How do I know which set I want? In a case like this, it is most likely that a configuration file will tell me. I can then write a few lines of code that instantiate the proper factory object based on this configuration information.

I can also use an Abstract Factory so I can use a subsystem for different applications. In this case, the factory object will be passed to the subsystem, telling the subsystem which objects it is to use. In this case, it is usually known ...