Welcome to the Factory Design Pattern in Java tutorial. Factory Pattern is one of the Creational Design pattern and it’s widely used in JDK as well as frameworks like Spring and Struts.
Table of Contents
Factory Design Pattern
The factory design pattern is used when we have a superclass with multiple sub-classes and based on input, we need to return one of the sub-class. This pattern takes out the responsibility of the instantiation of a class from the client program to the factory class.
Let’s first learn how to implement a factory design pattern in java and then we will look into factory pattern advantages. We will see some of the factory design pattern usage in JDK. Note that this pattern is also known as Factory Method Design Pattern.
Factory Design Pattern Super Class
Super class in factory design pattern can be an interface, abstract class or a normal java class. For our factory design pattern example, we have abstract super class with overridden toString() method for testing purpose.
package com.journaldev.design.model;
public abstract class Computer {
public abstract String getRAM();
public abstract String getHDD();
public abstract String getCPU();
@Override
public String toString(){
return "RAM= "+this.getRAM()+", HDD="+this.getHDD()+", CPU="+this.getCPU();
}
}
Factory Design Pattern Sub Classes
Let’s say we have two sub-classes PC and Server with below implementation.
package com.journaldev.design.model;
public class PC extends Computer {
private String ram;
private String hdd;
private String cpu;
public PC(String ram, String hdd, String cpu){
this.ram=ram;
this.hdd=hdd;
this.cpu=cpu;
}
@Override
public String getRAM() {
return this.ram;
}
@Override
public String getHDD() {
return this.hdd;
}
@Override
public String getCPU() {
return this.cpu;
}
}
Notice that both the classes are extending Computer super class.
package com.journaldev.design.model;
public class Server extends Computer {
private String ram;
private String hdd;
private String cpu;
public Server(String ram, String hdd, String cpu){
this.ram=ram;
this.hdd=hdd;
this.cpu=cpu;
}
@Override
public String getRAM() {
return this.ram;
}
@Override
public String getHDD() {
return this.hdd;
}
@Override
public String getCPU() {
return this.cpu;
}
}
Factory Class
Now that we have super classes and sub-classes ready, we can write our factory class. Here is the basic implementation.
package com.journaldev.design.factory;
import com.journaldev.design.model.Computer;
import com.journaldev.design.model.PC;
import com.journaldev.design.model.Server;
public class ComputerFactory {
public static Computer getComputer(String type, String ram, String hdd, String cpu){
if("PC".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) return new PC(ram, hdd, cpu);
else if("Server".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) return new Server(ram, hdd, cpu);
return null;
}
}
Some important points about Factory Design Pattern method are;
- We can keep Factory class Singleton or we can keep the method that returns the subclass as static.
- Notice that based on the input parameter, different subclass is created and returned.
getComputeris the factory method.
Here is a simple test client program that uses above factory design pattern implementation.
package com.journaldev.design.test;
import com.journaldev.design.factory.ComputerFactory;
import com.journaldev.design.model.Computer;
public class TestFactory {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Computer pc = ComputerFactory.getComputer("pc","2 GB","500 GB","2.4 GHz");
Computer server = ComputerFactory.getComputer("server","16 GB","1 TB","2.9 GHz");
System.out.println("Factory PC Config::"+pc);
System.out.println("Factory Server Config::"+server);
}
}
Output of above program is:
Factory PC Config::RAM= 2 GB, HDD=500 GB, CPU=2.4 GHz
Factory Server Config::RAM= 16 GB, HDD=1 TB, CPU=2.9 GHz
Factory Design Pattern Advantages
- Factory design pattern provides approach to code for interface rather than implementation.
- Factory pattern removes the instantiation of actual implementation classes from client code. Factory pattern makes our code more robust, less coupled and easy to extend. For example, we can easily change PC class implementation because client program is unaware of this.
- Factory pattern provides abstraction between implementation and client classes through inheritance.
Factory Design Pattern Examples in JDK
- java.util.Calendar, ResourceBundle and NumberFormat
getInstance()methods uses Factory pattern. valueOf()method in wrapper classes like Boolean, Integer etc.
Factory Design Pattern YouTube Video Tutorial
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I think the explanation in ‘Factory Design Pattern Advantages’ section is quite verbose. I can tell the advantage of this pattern is simply “reducing repeated codes to choose and instantiate an implementation with arguments you’re having, using the fact there is only one possible implementation of the interface for a combination of arguments or/and for the environment of the machine.”
“provides approach to code for interface rather than implementation” and “provides abstraction between implementation and client classes through inheritance” are true, but I think they are just derived results from the reason why you apply this pattern I said above.
So I think the first advantage in the section should be what I said above at least.
Pankaj, You have a wide reach and your article make a huge impact on developers. I appreciate your work and dedication that you put to bring this in front of us all. Having said that I want to invite you to partner me in clearing the space and providing the correct Design patterns as they are and not as they occur to you, me or any other author. Lets stick to the original GOF definition. It defines Abstract factory pattern and Factory pattern. I want to point out that the example you have put is neither of that. In the factory pattern , the factory class has an abstract method to create the product and lets the sub classes to create the concrete product. What you have is a static method. also the examples you mentioned as being present in JDK as example of factory method is also not pure factory pattern. They are simply Static Factory methods. Those are not the part of GOF Creational pattern. I want you to edit your post so as Correct information reaches the readers.
Thanks a lot for the nice content for me!
Thank you Pankaj for enlightening us with your clear and succinct answer.
> valueOf() method in wrapper classes like Boolean, Integer etc.
Could you explain more about this?
You said, if we don’t use factory design pattern, Client will be aware of all the instances of the Computer(such as PC, Server), there is no abstraction. Even with factory design pattern, client should be aware of all the instances of the Computer right, else how will the client pass that string(“pc”,”server”) depending on his requirement ?
i think only the pc types will be known to the client and its implementation is hidden from them.
It was explained good. Thank you
Very well descriptive article. Big Thanks !
thank’s sir Nice article
Thanks for sharing.
how do i implement a factory to store my data and call it inside my unit tests?
Thanks for sharing
Very helpful artical. Thank you.
Very weel explained! Thank you!
very nice tutorial, easy to understand!
I understand that there’s always a benefit to get the instance of a class using the provided factory implementation.
How can I force users to compulsorily use the factory implementation to get the instance, instead of getting away creating an instance directly using new operator of the actual class?
i.e. How can I force people to use ServerFactory.getInstance() instead of new Server()?
You can make Server Class as an abstract class.
But in that case Your Factory wont be able to create the instance itself.
If you can make the constructor private as per singleton, then i assume that you cannot create the instance using new Server(); and only enforces the user to access the object only through getInstance(). Also as an additional rule getInstance() method can be enforced as a rule to be implemented in the sub-classes extending computer. i.e. an abstract method of getInstance(), be present in Computer class which is already an abstract class. Hope m right, others correct me if m wrong
But i think even in that case you can get an instance of the singleton instance be it PC or Server without using the factory right? If i am wrong can you pleaser paste some code in the reply section?
It’s Nice Explanation Learnt new things more it’s best practice and understanding
Quick and easy tutorial, thanks.
Learned some new stuff with very detailed information.
Where below are implemented
import com.journaldev.design.abstractfactory.PCFactory;
import com.journaldev.design.abstractfactory.ServerFactory;
Sorry, that came out while copying the code from my Eclipse editor by mistake. Those imports are useless, I have removed them from above code.
It’s a very good tutorial. But I have a doubt,
You mentioned Calendar#getInstance() as factory pattern implementation. But in this there is a small difference right?
There is no separate factory class. The super class Calendar itself is acting as the factory class.
Does an implementation like this have any advantage or disadvantage?
Hi, is there a place in which I can download all the source code for the several design pattern examples.
These are great examples, but I have to copy-paste each single text box into Intellij, and it is very cumbersome.
Thank you very much, and congratulations for such good material.
Yes. Its very nice article about simple factory covers basic concepts.
I am relatively new to design patterns but I need to ask this question. What if we need to add another subclass of computer say Laptop to the application.? Does this mean we will have to modify the computer factory class? This looks like violating the OO principle which says classes should be closed to modification but open to extension.
It seems to me that you’re showing what is called a simple factory with ComputerFactory; It is not the Factory Method Pattern.
The client TestFactory delegates the creation to another class which it is composed with.
If you want to implement the Factory Method Pattern,:
1. ComputerFactory should define an asbtract method getComputer(String ram, String hdd, String cpu)
2. ComputerFactory should have two subclasses PCFactory and ServerFactory.which implements the superclass abstract method to return either a PC or a server
3. The client should be given one of the two concrete factories and call the factory method to get PC or servers, depending which one was instanciated
yes , i agree. the article is about simple factory not factory .
But still a nice article.
Could you please reply back with actual factory pattern example
in your own explanatroy words…
yes absolutely you are right. It is not factory method pattern.
This is a factory (factory method ) pattern, if you make factory abstract then it becomes abstract factory pattern
Nice article !!!!!!!!
Now i found the perfect article for Design pattern.
Thanks Pankaj
Thanks for the clear explanation.
I have one doubt here in Factory pattern. We have two concrete classes implementing the interface/Abstract class whose instances are created inside Factory class.But, instead of below line
Computer pc = ComputerFactory.getComputer(“pc”,”2 GB”,”500 GB”,”2.4 GHz”);
we can also use
Computer pc=new PC(“pc”,”2 GB”,”500 GB”,”2.4 GHz”); to get new instance of PC. Then what is the advantage of using ComputerFactory.getComputer() method on the client side directly.?
See here
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14575457/factory-classes
That’s why it’s called an creation all design pattern cause then we don’t have to dirty our code keeping the instance creation all logic here and there cause we have implanted a factory out there which is just doing it for us you just name it..name the object and it’s ready for you….
Thats because u will be bound to the object, ie if you create Computer pc=new PC(“pc”,”2 GB”,”500 GB”,”2.4 GHz”) u will always get the instance of PC and it would be hardcoding, So if you use factory you wil not worry of the implementation u will always get the object of reference Computer.
Some body asked me that Why do we have to implement singleton pattern when we have static.
And here in your post you say that either we can use static method or implement it as Singleton. Can you please detail on this?
May be its a late reply, but worth share thought here.
Factory classes(In general design patterns) are meant for maintainability and re-usability. Factory pattern states that, the objective of this pattern is to decouple the object instantiation from the client program. And this can be achieved either by static method or singleton factory class.
Why we use singleton pattern when we have static?
we use “static” when a piece of code/data same across all instances of a class OR important piece of code that needs to be executed even when class is not instantiated OR instantiation is not required.
Question here is, how to make outer class itself static? the answer is “Singleton Pattern”.
The “singleton pattern” is a mechanism, which gives the flexibility to reuse the same instance of a class(avoid multiple instantiation of a class when it is not required OR execute mandatory functionality only once) OR have the single instance to achieve the expected functionality.
This can be achieved by using static + additional checks on the pre-existence of the instance(of self).
Ex: Thread pool.
Good answer!!!
Very good answer… Thank You