The Factory Pattern

There are several design patterns allow us to hide the type of an object even from those who seek to create it. These patterns are known as Factories.

rating comment: This article gives a basic overview of the Factory Pattern and it's different characteristics. What I really like about it is the introduction: Explaining the problem, before giving the solution. Without knowledge of the problem, which factories are to solve, you wouldn't know when to use a factory and when not.