Factory Method Design Pattern

Last modified on September 7th, 2014 by Joe.

A factory method pattern is a creational pattern. It is used to instantiate an object from one among a set of classes based on a logic.

Assume that you have a set of classes which extends a common super class or interface. Now you will create a concrete class with a method which accepts one or more arguments. This method is our factory method. What it does is, based on the arguments passed factory method does logical operations and decides on which sub class to instantiate. This factory method will have the super class as its return type. So that, you can program for the interface and not for the implementation. This is all about factory method design pattern.

Sample factory method design pattern implementation in Java API

For a reference of how the factory method design pattern is implemented in Java, you can have a look at SAXParserFactory. It is a factory class which can be used to intantiate SAX based parsers to pares XML. The method newInstance is the factory method which instantiates the sax parsers based on some predefined logic.

Block diagram for The Design Pattern

factorydesignpattern

Sample Java Source Code for Factory Method Design Pattern

Based on comments received from users, I try to keep my sample java source code as simple as possible for a novice to understand.

Base class:

package com.javapapers.sample.designpattern.factorymethod;

//super class that serves as type to be instantiated for factory method pattern
public interface Pet {

 public String speak();

}

First subclass:

package com.javapapers.sample.designpattern.factorymethod;

//sub class 1 that might get instantiated by a factory method pattern
public class Dog implements Pet {

 public String speak() {
 return "Bark bark...";
 }
}


Second subclass:

package com.javapapers.sample.designpattern.factorymethod;

//sub class 2 that might get instantiated by a factory method pattern
public class Duck implements Pet {
 public String speak() {
 return "Quack quack...";
 }
}

Factory class:

package com.javapapers.sample.designpattern.factorymethod;

//Factory method pattern implementation that instantiates objects based on logic
public class PetFactory {

 public Pet getPet(String petType) {
 Pet pet = null;

 // based on logic factory instantiates an object
 if ("bark".equals(petType))
 pet = new Dog();
 else if ("quack".equals(petType))
 pet = new Duck();
 return pet;
 }
}

Using the factory method to instantiate

package com.javapapers.sample.designpattern.factorymethod;

//using the factory method pattern
public class SampleFactoryMethod {

 public static void main(String args[]){

 //creating the factory
 PetFactory petFactory = new PetFactory();

 //factory instantiates an object
 Pet pet = petFactory.getPet("bark");

 //you don't know which object factory created
 System.out.println(pet.speak());
 }

}

Output of the above sample program for Factory Method Pattern

Bark bark

Download Java Source Code For Factory Method Pattern

Comments on "Factory Method Design Pattern"

  1. Thamayanthi says:

    Nice!!. Though I am using all but when i try to related to design pattern, normally it looks me like big sky infront of me.

    But you explined neatly.

    Thanks for your effort and time for writing this ariticle.

    Thanks
    Thamayanthi

  2. Joe says:

    Factory is one of the widely used design patterns. Happy that you are able to relate it. Good luck Thamayanthi!

    Tutorials and articles available on internet try to be comprehensive and consequently confuses the reader. I try to keep my definitions as simple as possible for users to get the fundamental understanding right. So that, over experience they can build on top of it.

    Design patterns are not a complex subject. With appropriate tutorials it will be interesting to learn and use.

  3. Rampratap says:

    actualy i was using this design pattern only for creating object but not for return the object of super class based on logic.
    so it is now clear to use this design pattern

    thanks

  4. Joe says:

    Best wishes Rampratap.

  5. […] To keep things simple you can understand it like, you have a set of ‘related’ factory method design pattern. Then you will put all those set of simple factories inside a factory pattern. So in turn you need […]

  6. Ram says:

    This is good article. explained in very clear understanding way.

    Thanks for your post.

  7. dilip says:

    Thanks

    Simple and Nice explanation. Able to understand the basic defenition of the Factory methods.

  8. Prachi Gupta says:

    Nice and simplified explaination of a good design pattern..Good effort

  9. vruddhi says:

    Really good. I have understood it now. Thanks a lot

  10. Amardeep Singh says:

    The example is good. but to make it more apparent with the definition put the public Pet getPet(String petType) in an interface and let PetFactory inplement this interface. Reason any conventional definition tell you that there are four aspects to Factory Method.

    1. Product — in your case it is Pet. The interface of objects created by the factory

    2. Concrete Product — in your case it is Dog and Duck .The implementing class of Product. Object of this class is created by ConcreteCreator.

    3. Creator — Which is the interface i am talking about. This interface defines the factory methods

    4. Concrete Creator — PetFactory in your case. This class that extends Creator and that provides an implementation for the factoryMethod. This can return any object that implements Product interface.

    This will give the readers exact implementation for Factory Method.

  11. abhay says:

    hi Joe, thanks for the great explanation…

    I have a question:

    If the getPet() method in PetFactory class only determines whether to create a new Dog() or new Duck() based on String petType, then can we not make this getPet() method a static method.. and therefore in our main() method we wont have to create an instance of the PetFactory type… and instead we would be able to use the following statement

    Pet pet = PetFactory.getPet(“bark”);

    Which is the better way… instantiate PetFactory like you did… or don’t instantiate like pointed out in this comment… ?

    Thank you for your time

  12. Senthil Kumar says:

    Hi Joe,
    Very good articles
    – Senthil

  13. Eman Ahmed Elsayed says:

    very nice explanation,now I understand factory pattern.

    Thanks,

  14. Sreeni says:

    Very nice way to explain. I am always feeling that design pattern are very difficult to understood.

    Now you made it very simple and easy way to learn all design patterns.

    Thank you very much.

    Regards
    Sreeni

  15. prashant says:

    No doubt ,its very simply explained ….But what about Abhay ‘s question? I am agree with him….

  16. vamsi says:

    Thanks Joe…. u explained the concepts in a pristine manner…i became ur fan..

  17. vamsi says:

    Thanks Joe…. u explained the concepts in a pristine manner…i became ur fan..

  18. […] If you want to provide a handle / method to deliver a copy of the current instance write a kind of factory method and provide it with a good documentation. When you are in a situation to use a third party […]

  19. ozgun says:

    Could you please give an example about combining strategy & factory patterns ?

  20. Balaji A says:

    hi,
    Please move the search button in your page to the top. It will be more user friendly.

    Regards,
    Balaji A

  21. Noor says:

    The example you have given more suits to Fatory Pattern not factory method pattern.

    The exact definition for factory method pattern is to “define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses”.

  22. Jam says:

    Joe nice explanation, but according to the definition of Factory Method ” Define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Factory Method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.” But here how the subclasses deciding which clas to instantiate?

  23. Anonymous says:

    Thanka Lot Joe.. you know I never seen such a simple and easy explanation to understand the factory method design pattern.. you rock it. Keep up the good work buddy…

    -Lokesh

  24. Anil says:

    Nice Example for this design patterns
    i like it

  25. Mukul Pandey says:

    I’m a regular visitor to your site now…luv d way u explain things so tersely & easy 2 comprehend..gr8 work man…u rock !!!..
    Pls keep posting more such JAVA stuff…:-)

  26. Anonymous says:

    Hi joe,

    Thanks for explaining the concepts so clearly.

  27. n.srinivasarao says:

    good and simple presentation and useful to plenty of students for references

  28. balaji says:

    great job

  29. Anonymous says:

    Neat And clean Explanation ,thank god u provided the download file otherwise it would b mystery for me.. Finally understood..

  30. Yogesh Dhawale says:

    Thanks for your effort and time for writing this ariticle.

  31. Siva says:

    Nice article on Design pattern, Thanks Joe.

  32. safat says:

    Thanks a lot…..i was just getting frustrated reading a hard written book
    You have a great skill of presentation and making things easy

  33. Mugdha says:

    Good one! Short and crisp!!

  34. Sai says:

    super Joe, awesome no words to describe,I’m a new Java developer having just 1.5 years experience, luckily got here, i thought of leaving Java coz of poor understanding,now i realized that its damn easy if we understand things.

  35. Anonymous says:

    plz put the sequence diagram for this pattern

  36. Misge says:

    I red almost all the design patterns.It was a wonderful presentation.I am now capable of designing my classes with patterns.Thanks a lot!

  37. Rashmi says:

    Good Website Joe.
    I have also read your articles on Core java, JSP and Servlets. The way you explain concepts is really good and easy to understand.
    Is there any difference between Factory Design Pattern and Factory Method Design Pattern

  38. Chetanya says:

    Good one! Short and crisp!!

  39. Shailesh says:

    Hi,
    Thanks for such a nice article …
    Just have a doubt ….

    what if the Factory method is static ?
    Will it violate the definition of this design pattern ?

  40. Sandeep Shukla says:

    Very Nice and easy language.You finally achieved to make me understand the patterns.
    Thanks :)

  41. yuanrong lan says:

    simple words, simple examples, which make complex concept clear. reading your acticle, is kind of a happy journey.
    Thanks very much for sharing!!!

  42. janakiraman says:

    Really a useful article. Great work.

    Keep on sharing such a useful articles.

    Janakiraman

  43. satyajit says:

    Hi Joe,

    thanks to your Nice works? In some explanation and example i found the abstract class instead interface, so is there any specific reason/cause to use interface/abstract class one another ?

  44. Trinesh says:

    Good Explaination. Is there any difference between Factory Pattern and Factory method pattern?

  45. Suresh says:

    Excellent

  46. Hari Babu Choudary says:

    Hi Joe ,this is very good article i have ever read on design patterns

  47. AnjanN says:

    Great work Joe..very neat example…

  48. Shantanu says:

    Hey Joe.. I have been passionate about Design Patterns , but always get confused at some points..! Yours is a great attempt to clarify all confusions..!

    Is it right that the methods of the abstract factory patterns that create the concrete product objects, are factory methods? It seems like..

  49. Anonymous says:

    very nice… well Explained.. Thanks

  50. Navin says:

    Waiting for a simple but an explainatory example for Singleton Design pattern also.

  51. Harshal says:

    Thanks :)

  52. bond says:

    Thanks a lot Joe.
    Awesome artical , great & simple description of Factory pattern……

  53. chandan says:

    thanks a lot joe for putting such a nice explanation .
    I have a question for you ??
    Till now i knew that factory method is used to create instance of those classes which have a private constructor from other classes.
    Would you like to explain the concept from this angle .

  54. Suresh says:

    Hi Joe,

    Could you please post documents on Behavioral Patterns as well.

  55. Joe says:

    Sure Suresh. I am planning on behavioral patterns. You will get that soon.

  56. Mehdi eshaghi says:

    Thank you for such a neat example

  57. Mars says:

    Abhay had asked a question that, we use a static method instead of using member funtion in PetFactory class. So that it is not required to be instantiate the PetFactoy.
    We all know that, static members are not related to instance scope where as its scope to class level. Static members should be loaded whenever the class loads. Joe, can you please exaplin why it is not recommonded to use a static in this scenario.

    Thank you

  58. Sathishkumar says:

    Hi Joe,

    Given example is not Factory Method Pattern. It is plain Simple Factory which just encapsulates object creation.

  59. Subhash Kumar says:

    Hi Joe

    The way you explained factory pattern is simple and understandable.You nicely related it with real life example.

    Other tutorials on net had really confused me and I could have never used it as it was not clear to me.

  60. Nagendra says:

    really nice sample for factory design pattern

  61. Elbassel says:

    That’s very good article.
    I have a question:
    If I will add another class extend pet, do I will have to modify the factory method?

  62. Grace says:

    This article explains design pattern with simple examples. Great help Joe!

  63. Anonymous says:

    Excellant explanations!

  64. Anonymous says:

    So superbly simplified!! Excellent

  65. Anonymous says:

    I agree with your valid points.
    Joe,
    Simplicity is good.However enough information about each design patters is more important.

  66. Anonymous says:

    Great thoughts!
    Factory pattern is used for addressing problem on object creation.

    As you rightly mentioned, method could be static (Static Factory method). So that client side no need to create object of Factory class.

    Keep it up!

    Joe,
    Please add section for Pre Request ( situations/conditions) and solution to the problems for each design pattern.

    Your effort is appreciated.

  67. Anonymous says:

    You are right when suppose you have classes in family hierarchy that time is your idea will rightly fit.

    Here, the object creation problem is in single interface and multiple implementations.

    We may not required to implement completely which design pattern says…

    See the problem
    For Simple Problem , solution should be so simple.

    For complex problem, solution should be so so simple :)

    I agree Joe need to explain a lot about various problems on object creation with proposed solution.
    Hope Joe may like to Super Star!

  68. Anonymous says:

    No worries!
    It may not violate the definition of design pattern sir!
    It will become static factory design pattern and that is really good solution when object creation for single interface with multiple implementations.

    Some extend we could twist the design pattern for exactly fitting your current requirement and problems may come in future.

    100 % pure gold may not help us boss!

    Choosing right design pattern is more important rather than implementation (it can change as needed)

  69. Anonymous says:

    Good Question.
    You may required to move to next level for understanding about Object Creation patterns what it gives solution to the object creation problems?

    Just ask you
    what is the problem on object creation?
    Since jave provides three ways to create objects 1) new,2)Class.forname(),3) Clone !!!
    then why we need to have these many patterns ? is my question valid? if yes, go ahead!
    Best wishes :)

  70. Anonymous says:

    Your assumption may right at your angle
    When you put constructor as private.then that class must be provide static factory method for getting object from other classes.

    However Factory pattern is not only for this one exactly.

    keep your thought process until for next week !!!

  71. Anonymous says:

    I agree Abhay point. its really sounds good.
    Please see my reply to Abhay.
    For your doubts, I could say
    Static method is going to be used.

    What is the need of variable (directly return statement is enough)

    when we used to have variable that may required to hold for future purpose.

    Factory is not going to do any logic just simply object creation and returned to client.

    hope you got my explanation.

    I really appreciate you since you raised questions from posted comments. that is really will help us to have good brain storming within us. Lets try to share our ideas.

    That is the reason I have replied around 5 to 6 members doubt today

    Always my thanks to Joe :)

  72. Danial Carter says:

    If you share the UML diagrams of the example, it will be more understandable. Thanx for your study.

  73. Anonymous says:

    That was simple & precise explanation.
    Very helpful.

  74. Karan says:

    We create object Using 3 ways…
    new (Compile Time)
    Class.forName (Dynamic)
    Clone (Backup Object)

    The purpose of Object creation is different here.

    Design Pattern described here Factory Pattern, actually uses “New”

    So Its Just a way to encapsulate details of creation of objects depending on Logic.

  75. athar says:

    thanks. very useful! :)

  76. Pawan says:

    I have set javapaers.com as my home page. Its really really good.

  77. Coder says:

    There’s an issue with definitions here. The example presented is not a “factory method” as defined in the gang of four. A factory method delegates the creation of an object to subclasses of a parent factory or interface. Each subclass creates just one type of object.

    The example here is at times called a factory pattern or a simple factory. This type of pattern has one class containing branch instructions that are used to create one of a number of objects, as PetFactory does here.

  78. nikhil says:

    Super sir….thank you very much and do keep blogging..

  79. Peeyush says:

    Great Post Sir now i understand what the factory pattern is…can u please update your blog with other factory pattern with sample code so that it will help us.

  80. Anonymous says:

    Hi Joe, Can u pls mention Why we are going to Factory Method Design pattern?

  81. MH says:

    Thnx a lot…. Joe.

    can u please tell me that what is the exact differences between Factory and Proxy?

  82. Anand says:

    Here we are creating 2 objects,
    1) Instantiating Factory class.
    2) Then asking for Pet object.

    If we make factory method as a static method then is it a problem??

  83. joel says:

    Nice explanation. Simple and easy to understand. Thank you.

  84. ThirupathiReddy says:

    thanks for your effort joe, patterns really explained with simple and easy to understanding way.

  85. Ajay Singh Bhati says:

    It seems simple factory pattern not the factory method pattern

  86. Manish says:

    AS per pic yoru factory class will also have a asuper class , but if i have read it right , your example source code does not have any such class , please help me understanding that why you choosed not to implement that ?

  87. shresth says:

    Awesome!

  88. tkhan10 says:

    thanks, for easy example of factory design pattern. i know these thing but dont know the specific term in designed pattern.

    this tutorial for all begineer,as well as specialist.

  89. brat says:

    Thanks for keeping it simple and yet best. If possible try packaging all the design pattern as a pdf downloadable which should be very handy.

  90. AKM says:

    I have an example in my mind when I read the Factory pattern.
    It’s like this,
    when you go to an auto stand and ask for an auto to go to a certain place, one guy in the stand ( who normally an Auto driver) directs one of the auto drivers in the stand to take the passenger to their destination.
    Here the one arranges the right auto for you is equivalent to factory. With respect to the Factory pattern context, we call him the creator who creates the the right instance (auto) and give it to you for (to travel).

    Joe – Please comment this one example before it gets into others.

  91. Mr Design Pattern says:

    Everything starts with a WHY, a problem that it solves.So that and I don’t see that WHY anywhere.
    A solution must solve a generic problem….here it solves the decoupling i.e creation of all composed object from object which composes it thus allowing encapsulation and this way of creation can be changed without the composing object knowing it.
    Your explanation seems like FireEntinguisher does this and does that.But then
    Why the **** should I Do this.Why not throw water?? or just run away when there is fire?
    Everybody doesnot have fire in their houses everyday!!!

  92. Anonymous says:

    very use full

  93. Anonymous says:

    good artice on factory method. Sir can you please provide another real life example for the same

  94. pulkit agarwal says:

    Concise and to the point .. can become an easy deference material.

    Could you please also include when to use these patterns. It would be helpful for my kind of people.

  95. Arun says:

    Hi Joe , based on your example I can understand the pattern , do u have any other example contains complex type.

  96. bhanu says:

    What u explained is factory pattern and wht abt factory method and when we add new instance how to get instance…..with out changing

  97. Karan Jindal says:

    Brilliantly explained. Thanks for the article. :)

  98. Bahubali says:

    Joe,
    I dont think this is factory method, but a simple factory pattern.Can you please shed some light on this.

  99. Anonymous says:

    i think it is not for creating objects dynamically

  100. Pavithra says:

    Nice and elegant explanation!

  101. Cerun says:

    Great stuff! I just have one feedback to say, If you could add class diagram for each design pattern that will help understanding in a better way..

  102. Vikalp says:

    Hi Joe,

    Is there any difference between factory and factory method , if yes , explanation on that with an example will be really helpful.

  103. apexxer says:

    this is just basic factory pattern not a “factory method” patterns… could you please post a correct example joe… m a fan of ur posts, but this post seems to be misguided me.

  104. Stakshi says:

    Good explanation!! Thanks

  105. prachi says:

    hey hi,
    can u explain me factory method in simple .bcoz im not getting it

  106. Kala Patti says:

    Nice article with good explanation.

  107. Srinivasan Vinju Govindarajan says:

    Hi,

    Came across your site while doing a search for sample factory method implementation in Java. But your code looks like Factory pattern and not Factory Method Pattern.

    Here your factory class is making the decision on which classes instance to create. But Factory method pattern should be delegating the factory method for the inherited class to implement..!

  108. shinto philip says:

    Thanks man… Your articles are helping a lot.. Keep going…

  109. John says:

    nice article but i didn’t get it how this pattern gives high cohesion nd loose coupling.Explain me.

  110. Vijay says:

    It is amazing, though i have studied the same concept for certification, just now realizing that, it is one of the Design Pattern …..

    I have searched so many sites for Factory Method Design Pattern, simply we can not understand the way using tricky words like factory and others….

    But this is simple and powerful that everyone can understand what it is a 100%….

    Thank You and and thanks a lot…keep it up this way of explanation

Comments are closed for "Factory Method Design Pattern".