Abstract Factory is a creational design pattern that is aimed to simplify creation of objects at run-time without specifying their concrete types. That is accomplished by incapsulating a group of related factories that operate the same domain-specific types.
The pattern has some similarities with another creational pattern called Factory Method. Don't be confused by the common nature and similar names of the patterns - they are different and have different restrictions and purposes.
Abstract Factory is implemented using a type rather than a method, can be inherited and extended. The pattern hides the related factories that specifically know how to create concrete types that belong to the factory. In order to implement the pattern we need to define a type that will incapsulate the related sub-factories and a protocol that will be used as the resulting type of the factory. In some cases there might be several protocols, each for a separate sub-factory. That will allow to produce non-dependent types.
We will create two factories: one for creating postapocalyptic vehicles and the other will be used to create regular vehicles. Then we will build Abstract Factory that will be producing various types of vehicles, depending on non type-related properties and without exposing the underlying theme-specific factories.
We start from defining LandVehicle protocol that will be used as a runtime type for our abstract factory:
protocol LandVehicle {
// MARK: - Properties
var engine: [Engine] { get }
var wheels: [Wheel] { get }
var body: CarBody { get }
}The protocol defines a set of properties that describe main components for our land vehicles: engine (can have multiple for post-apocalyptic car), wheels and the vehicle body.
Then we create a concrete type for SportCar and add conformance to LandVehicle protocol:
class SportCar: LandVehicle, MovableProtocol, RotatableProtocol, TurboAcceleratable {
// MARK: - LandVehicle properties
var engine: [Engine]
var wheels: [Wheel]
var body: CarBody
// MARK: - Initializers
init() {
let engine = Engine(id: "V12", horsepower: 1200)
var wheels = [Wheel]()
let numberOfWheels = 4
for _ in 0..<numberOfWheels {
wheels += [Wheel(radius: 56)]
}
let body = CarBody(id: "Bugatti", color: .orange)
self.engine = [engine]
self.wheels = wheels
self.body = body
}
// MARK: - Conformance to MovableProtocol
func move(to trajectory: MovementType) {
print("moved:", trajectory)
}
// MARK: - Conformance to RotatableProtocol
func turn(to direction: RotationType) {
print("turned to the:", direction)
}
// MARK: - Conformance to TurboAcceleratable protocol
func accelerate() {
print("accelerated!")
}
}MovableProtocol and RotatableProtocol are protocols that add certain functions for our SportCar type - they indicate what capabilities our vehicles have.
The next type that we are going to implement is PostapocalypticCar:
class PostapocalypticCar: LandVehicle, MovableProtocol, RotatableProtocol, ShootableProtocol {
// MARK: - LandVehicle properties
var engine: [Engine]
var wheels: [Wheel]
var body: CarBody
// MARK: - Conformance to ShootableProtocol
var missileType: MissileType
// MARK: - Initializers
init(missileType: MissileType) {
self.missileType = missileType
let engineOne = Engine(id: "V8", horsepower: 850)
let engineTwo = Engine(id: "V6", horsepower: 550)
var wheels = [Wheel]()
let numberOfWheels = 8
for _ in 0..<numberOfWheels {
wheels += [Wheel(radius: 92)]
}
let body = CarBody(id: "Titan Body", color: .cyan)
self.engine = [engineOne, engineTwo]
self.wheels = wheels
self.body = body
}
// MARK: - Conformance to MovableProtocol
func move(to direction: MovementType) {
print("moved:", direction)
}
// MARK: - Conformance to RotatableProtocol
func turn(to direction: RotationType) {
print("turned to the:", direction)
}
// MARK: - Conformance to ShootableProtocol
func shoot() {
print("shoot missile of type: ", missileType)
}
}Additionally PostapocalypticCar conforms to ShootableProtocol which adds shooting capability using MissileType (rockets, bullets or flame). The conformance to this protocol adds some differentiate characteristic to anti-zombie car.
Each of the LandVehicle types incapsulate the functionality related to the instantiation of self, so the factory will be free from set up code. Please note that it's not required, your factories may be responsible for setting up the related types.
Next, we create theme-specific factories:
class ShootableVehicleFactory {
func produce(with missileType: MissileType) -> LandVehicle {
return missileType == .fire ? SteampunkTruck(missileType: .fire) : PostapocalypticCar(missileType: missileType)
}
}
class RegularVehicleFactory {
func produce() -> LandVehicle {
return SportCar()
}
}SteampunkTruck is similar to PostapocalypticCar except some type specific details (the code for SteampunkTruck can be found in the corresponding .playground file). The two factories specifically operate on either Shootable or Regular vehicles. For instance we can add some other land vehicle without a weapon system and add it to our RegularVehicleFactory.
struct VehicleFactory {
// MARK: - Private properties
private let shootableVehicleFactory = ShootableVehicleFactory()
private let regularVehicleFactory = RegularVehicleFactory()
// MARK: - Factory
func produce(areThereZombies: Bool, hasWeapSystem: Bool) -> LandVehicle {
switch (zombies: areThereZombies, weaponSystem: hasWeapSystem) {
case (true, true):
return shootableVehicleFactory.produce(with: .rocket)
case (false, true):
return shootableVehicleFactory.produce(with: .fire)
default:
return regularVehicleFactory.produce()
}
}
}The factory is implemented using boolean values that are used to determine which type will be instantiated at runtime and then produced by the theme-specific factory.
// Create the factory 🏭
let vehicleFactory = VehicleFactory()
// Produce a vehicle with the specified properties
let steampunkTruck = vehicleFactory.produce(areThereZombies: false, hasWeapSystem: true) as? SteampunkTruck
// Use car-specific functionality
steampunkTruck?.shoot()
// Produce another vehicle based on different initial requirements
let sportCar = vehicleFactory.produce(areThereZombies: true, hasWeapSystem: false) as? SportCar
// Use turbo acceleration available for Sport Car 🚗:
sportCar?.accelerate()The usage of the factory is pretty straightforward. We have created the factory for vehicles and then produced our first vehicle that is a regular vehicle but has weapon system. Our factory will delegate this work to ShootableVehicleFactory that will produce for us SteampunkLandVehicle instance. Next, we produce another vehicle but adopted for zombie apocalypse and without weapon system.
Abstract Factory provides means for creating objects based on external parameters, configure them differently and provide specific type capabilities based on run-time requirements, by delegating the work to sub-factories that operate on theme-specific types. Since, the factory is built around concrete type, we can use type extension and inheritance to extend the capabilities. Use this pattern when you have related, unstructured types and you don't want to expose the way they are constructed. Also this pattern helps when you have run-time factors that affect the type that needs to be selected and constructed.