Abstract Factory Pattern vs Factory Method Pattern
- the main difference is that the factory method is a method, and an abstract factory is an object
- the intended purpose of the class containing a factory method is NOT to create objects
- the intended purpose of an abstract factory should ONLY be used to create objects
- abstract factory is implemented by composition, but factory method is implemented by Inheritance
- goals:
- abstract factory’s goal is to create a family of objects that are designed to work together
- factory method’s goal is to encapsulate object creation in a separate method, allowing subclasses to provide the implementation for creating specific objects
- one should take care when using factory methods since it’s easy to break the Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP) when creating objects