When using a Factory, what is a key way clients interact with produced objects?

When using a Factory, what is a key way clients interact with produced objects?

• A. Through a common interface
• B. By inspecting concrete class names
• C. By direct reflection on constructors
• D. By exposing internal product-specific methods

Answer: (A)

Factories let clients work with produced objects through a shared interface rather than a concrete type. The client interacts with the object by calling methods defined in that interface, and the factory supplies an instance that implements it. This decouples client code from specific product classes, so you can swap in different implementations without changing how the client uses them. Relying on concrete class names ties the client to a particular production, defeating the purpose of the factory. Using reflection to call constructors bypasses the factory’s control and can lead to tighter coupling and less flexibility. Exposing internal product-specific methods leaks implementation details and breaks the abstraction that the factory provides.

Factories let clients work with produced objects through a shared interface rather than a concrete type. The client interacts with the object by calling methods defined in that interface, and the factory supplies an instance that implements it. This decouples client code from specific product classes, so you can swap in different implementations without changing how the client uses them.

Relying on concrete class names ties the client to a particular production, defeating the purpose of the factory. Using reflection to call constructors bypasses the factory’s control and can lead to tighter coupling and less flexibility. Exposing internal product-specific methods leaks implementation details and breaks the abstraction that the factory provides.