Factory Method

Difference between Factory and Visitor Pattern?

Seems to be basically the same thing, both built on basic Polymorphism. Main difference is the intent of the method; Factory is to instantiate many things of different types, let the child concrete classes actually implement it. While the visitor pattern is designed for a function / interface to work will multiple types out of the box.

Factory method is a creational design pattern which solves the problem of creating product objects without specifying their concrete classes.

/**
 * The Product interface declares the operations that all concrete products must
 * implement.
 */
 
class Product {
 public:
  virtual ~Product() {}
  virtual std::string Operation() const = 0;
};
 
/**
 * Concrete Products provide various implementations of the Product interface.
 */
class ConcreteProduct1 : public Product {
 public:
  std::string Operation() const override {
    return "{Result of the ConcreteProduct1}";
  }
};
class ConcreteProduct2 : public Product {
 public:
  std::string Operation() const override {
    return "{Result of the ConcreteProduct2}";
  }
};
 
/**
 * The Creator class declares the factory method that is supposed to return an
 * object of a Product class. The Creator's subclasses usually provide the
 * implementation of this method.
 */
 
class Creator {
  /**
   * Note that the Creator may also provide some default implementation of the
   * factory method.
   */
 public:
  virtual ~Creator(){};
  virtual Product* FactoryMethod() const = 0;
  /**
   * Also note that, despite its name, the Creator's primary responsibility is
   * not creating products. Usually, it contains some core business logic that
   * relies on Product objects, returned by the factory method. Subclasses can
   * indirectly change that business logic by overriding the factory method and
   * returning a different type of product from it.
   */
 
  std::string SomeOperation() const {
    // Call the factory method to create a Product object.
    Product* product = this->FactoryMethod();
    // Now, use the product.
    std::string result = "Creator: The same creator's code has just worked with " + product->Operation();
    delete product;
    return result;
  }
};
 
/**
 * Concrete Creators override the factory method in order to change the
 * resulting product's type.
 */
class ConcreteCreator1 : public Creator {
  /**
   * Note that the signature of the method still uses the abstract product type,
   * even though the concrete product is actually returned from the method. This
   * way the Creator can stay independent of concrete product classes.
   */
 public:
  Product* FactoryMethod() const override {
    return new ConcreteProduct1();
  }
};
 
class ConcreteCreator2 : public Creator {
 public:
  Product* FactoryMethod() const override {
    return new ConcreteProduct2();
  }
};
 
/**
 * The client code works with an instance of a concrete creator, albeit through
 * its base interface. As long as the client keeps working with the creator via
 * the base interface, you can pass it any creator's subclass.
 */
void ClientCode(const Creator& creator) {
  // ...
  std::cout << "Client: I'm not aware of the creator's class, but it still works.\n"
            << creator.SomeOperation() << std::endl;
  // ...
}
 
/**
 * The Application picks a creator's type depending on the configuration or
 * environment.
 */
 
int main() {
  std::cout << "App: Launched with the ConcreteCreator1.\n";
  Creator* creator = new ConcreteCreator1();
  ClientCode(*creator);
  std::cout << std::endl;
  std::cout << "App: Launched with the ConcreteCreator2.\n";
  Creator* creator2 = new ConcreteCreator2();
  ClientCode(*creator2);
 
  delete creator;
  delete creator2;
  return 0;
}