Factory Method

• Also known as: Virtual Constructor
• Create an instance of several derived classes
• Define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate
• Let a class defer instantiation to subclasses

Product

• Defines the interface of objects the factory method creates

ConcreteProduct

• Implements the Product interface

Creator

• Declares the factory method, which returns an object of type Product
• Creator may also define a default implementation of the factory method that returns a default ConcreteProduct object
• May call the factory method to create a Product object

ConcreteCreator

• Overrides the factory method to return an instance of a ConcreteProduct