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Abstract Factory is a creational pattern that provides an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes. Think of it as a factory of factories — you pick a factory, and all objects you create through it are guaranteed to be compatible with each other.

Key distinction from Factory Method: Factory Method creates one product; Abstract Factory creates an entire family of related products. All products from one factory are designed to work together.

The Problem: UI Families

You're building a cross-platform UI toolkit. You have Button and Checkbox widgets. Each platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) needs its own look-and-feel. You need to guarantee that if you create a WindowsButton, you also create a WindowsCheckbox — never a mixed family like WindowsButton + MacCheckbox.

Participants

Full Code Example

java

interface Button {
    void render();
    void onClick();
}

interface Checkbox {
    void render();
    void toggle();
}

Abstract Factory vs Factory Method

Abstract Factory in Java Standard Library

Key takeaway: Abstract Factory guarantees product compatibility. If you need to ensure that created objects work as a consistent set — buttons match checkboxes match scrollbars — Abstract Factory is the right tool.

Trade-off: Adding a new product type to the family (e.g. a Tooltip) requires changing the Abstract Factory interface and ALL concrete factory implementations. Plan your product families carefully upfront.