When to use it Abstract Factory Design Pattern

 👉👉👉👉Differences between Abstract Factory and Factory Method Design Pattern

The Abstract Factory Design Pattern is particularly useful in situations where:

1. Need to Create Families of Related Objects

When your system needs to handle multiple families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes. For example, a user interface toolkit that supports different themes (e.g., dark mode, light mode) might require different sets of components (buttons, text boxes) for each theme.

2. Product Variations

When you have multiple product variations that need to work together. If you need to ensure that all products in a family are compatible with each other, the Abstract Factory helps by providing a way to create these products in a cohesive manner.

3. Object Creation is Decoupled from Use

When you want to decouple the creation of objects from their use. The Abstract Factory provides an interface for creating objects, which allows the client code to remain independent of the concrete classes being instantiated.

4. System is Configured to Work with Multiple Product Families

When your system needs to support multiple product families, and you want to switch between these families easily. For example, a system that needs to support both Windows and Mac platforms with different sets of components can use Abstract Factory to manage these variations.

5. Consistency Among Related Products

When you need to ensure consistency among related products. The Abstract Factory guarantees that a set of related products are created together, ensuring that they fit together and work as intended.

Example Scenarios

1. User Interface Libraries

If you are developing a UI library that needs to work across different platforms (e.g., Windows, Mac, Linux), you can use the Abstract Factory to create platform-specific components (buttons, text boxes, menus) while ensuring they are consistent with each other.

public interface IUIFactory
{
    IButton CreateButton();
    ITextBox CreateTextBox();
}

public class WindowsFactory : IUIFactory
{
    public IButton CreateButton() => new WindowsButton();
    public ITextBox CreateTextBox() => new WindowsTextBox();
}

public class MacFactory : IUIFactory
{
    public IButton CreateButton() => new MacButton();
    public ITextBox CreateTextBox() => new MacTextBox();
}

C#

2. Document Management Systems

For a document management system that supports multiple formats (e.g., PDF, Word), you can use Abstract Factory to create readers, editors, and savers for each document format.

public interface IDocumentFactory
{
    IReader CreateReader();
    IEditor CreateEditor();
    ISaver CreateSaver();
}

public class PdfDocumentFactory : IDocumentFactory
{
    public IReader CreateReader() => new PdfReader();
    public IEditor CreateEditor() => new PdfEditor();
    public ISaver CreateSaver() => new PdfSaver();
}

public class WordDocumentFactory : IDocumentFactory
{
    public IReader CreateReader() => new WordReader();
    public IEditor CreateEditor() => new WordEditor();
    public ISaver CreateSaver() => new WordSaver();
}

C#

3. Game Development

In game development,if you need to create different sets of game objects (e.g., enemies, weapons)
for different levels or settings, you can use Abstract Factory to manage these
variations.
public interface IGameFactory
{
    IEnemy CreateEnemy();
    IWeapon CreateWeapon();
}

public class EasyLevelFactory : IGameFactory
{
    public IEnemy CreateEnemy() => new EasyEnemy();
    public IWeapon CreateWeapon() => new BasicWeapon();
}

public class HardLevelFactory : IGameFactory
{
    public IEnemy CreateEnemy() => new HardEnemy();
    public IWeapon CreateWeapon() => new AdvancedWeapon();
}
C#
Summary
Use the Abstract Factory Design Pattern when:
You need to create families of related objects.
You want to ensure that objects from a family are used together.
Your system needs to support multiple product families and you want to keep your client code decoupled from concrete implementations.
You want to provide a consistent interface for creating related objects.
This pattern helps in managing complex object creation logic, ensuring consistency, 
and providing flexibility in how objects are created and used. 

Differences between Abstract Factory and Factory Method Design Pattern

The Abstract Factory and Factory Method design patterns are both creational patterns used to create objects, but they differ in their structure and intent. Here are the key differences:

👉👉👉 Factory Method Design Pattern in C#

👉👉👉 Abstract Factory Design Pattern in C# with Real-Time Example

1. Intent

• Factory Method: Defines an interface for creating a single product, but lets subclasses alter the type of product that will be created. The intention is to defer the instantiation of a class to subclasses.
• Abstract Factory: Provides an interface for creating families of related or dependent products without specifying their concrete classes. The intention is to create a set of related products.

2. Structure

• Factory Method: Typically involves a single method in a class to create an object. This pattern relies on inheritance: a base class defines the factory method, and derived classes implement the factory method to create specific products.

// Factory Method
public abstract class Creator
{
    public abstract IProduct FactoryMethod();
}

public class ConcreteCreator : Creator
{
    public override IProduct FactoryMethod()
    {
        return new ConcreteProduct();
    }
}

C#

Abstract Factory: Involves multiple factory methods grouped into a single interface to create families of related products. This pattern relies on object composition: a factory class is responsible for creating products, and concrete factory classes implement the creation methods.

public interface IAbstractFactory
{
    IProductA CreateProductA();
    IProductB CreateProductB();
}

public class ConcreteFactory : IAbstractFactory
{
    public IProductA CreateProductA()
    {
        return new ConcreteProductA();
    }

    public IProductB CreateProductB()
    {
        return new ConcreteProductB();
    }
}

C#

3. Scope

• Factory Method: Deals with the creation of a single product. Each factory method is responsible for creating a single type of product.
• Abstract Factory: Deals with the creation of families of related products. An abstract factory groups related factory methods together, so you can create various related products through a single interface.

4. Usage

• Factory Method: Used when a class cannot anticipate the class of objects it must create. It's useful when a class wants its subclasses to specify the object to be created.
• Abstract Factory: Used when a system should be independent of how its products are created and composed. It's useful when a system needs to support multiple families of products.

5. Example

Factory Method

// Product Interface
public interface IProduct
{
    void Operation();
}

// Concrete Product
public class ConcreteProduct : IProduct
{
    public void Operation()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ConcreteProduct Operation");
    }
}

// Creator
public abstract class Creator
{
    public abstract IProduct FactoryMethod();

    public void AnOperation()
    {
        IProduct product = FactoryMethod();
        product.Operation();
    }
}

// Concrete Creator
public class ConcreteCreator : Creator
{
    public override IProduct FactoryMethod()
    {
        return new ConcreteProduct();
    }
}

// Usage
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Creator creator = new ConcreteCreator();
        creator.AnOperation();
    }
}

C#

Abstract Factory

// Abstract Products
public interface IProductA
{
    void OperationA();
}

public interface IProductB
{
    void OperationB();
}

// Concrete Products
public class ConcreteProductA1 : IProductA
{
    public void OperationA()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ConcreteProductA1 OperationA");
    }
}

public class ConcreteProductB1 : IProductB
{
    public void OperationB()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ConcreteProductB1 OperationB");
    }
}

// Abstract Factory
public interface IAbstractFactory
{
    IProductA CreateProductA();
    IProductB CreateProductB();
}

// Concrete Factory
public class ConcreteFactory1 : IAbstractFactory
{
    public IProductA CreateProductA()
    {
        return new ConcreteProductA1();
    }

    public IProductB CreateProductB()
    {
        return new ConcreteProductB1();
    }
}

// Usage
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        IAbstractFactory factory = new ConcreteFactory1();
        IProductA productA = factory.CreateProductA();
        IProductB productB = factory.CreateProductB();

        productA.OperationA();
        productB.OperationB();
    }
}

C#

Summary

• Factory Method is used for creating a single product and allows subclasses to determine the actual product to be created.
• Abstract Factory is used for creating families of related products and provides a way to encapsulate a group of individual factories.

Each pattern has its own use case and choosing between them depends on the specific requirements of the software design.

👉👉👉When to use it Abstract Factory Design Pattern