Question

I have a class built from a hierarchy of other classes, and I had created a bunch of the same classes that looked identical other than the class name

for example

class Class1 extends BaseClass
{
  public function __construct()
  {
     parent::__construct();
  }
}

class Class2 extends BaseClass
{
  public function __construct()
  {
     parent::__construct();
  }
}

class Class3 extends BaseClass
{
  public function __construct()
  {
     parent::__construct();
  }
}

But I realize (hopefully rightfully) that I could create Class[1-3] using a factory pattern, and just pass a class name and have the factory return one of these classes. This would require much less code, thus more maintainable. Also, how would you suggest implementing if say I wanted to do this :

class Class4 extends AnotherBaseClass
{
  public function __construct()
  {
     parent::__construct();
  }
}

note that class 4 extends another base class, but it is the exact same other than a small bit of information that AnotherBaseClass holds.

right now i am thinking something like this (my thoughts are fuzzy and incomplete at this point):

//where i am putting the repeating code

class Skeleton extends BaseClass
{
  public function __construct()
  {
     parent::__construct();
  }
}


class ClassFactory
{
   public function __construct( $className , $classType )
   {
      <pseudocode>
      Class5 = new $className
      ???and some how make $className extend $classType ???
      return class5
      </pseudocode>
   }

}

Is the factory pattern the correct answer?

Cheers!

Answer 1

Yes – factory pattern is the correct answer. In addition you may also check out Abstract Factory, specifically for the scenario you mentioned where your some classes will have different attributes and may derive from some other base class.