Facade pattern

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The facade pattern is a software engineering design pattern commonly used with Object-oriented programming. (The name is by analogy to an architectural facade.)

A facade is an object that provides a simplified interface to a larger body of code, such as a class library. A facade can:

• make a software library easier to use and understand, since the facade has convenient methods for common tasks;
• make code that uses the library more readable, for the same reason;
• reduce dependencies of outside code on the inner workings of a library, since most code uses the facade, thus allowing more flexibility in developing the system;
• wrap a poorly-designed collection of APIs with a single well-designed API (as per task needs).

An Adapter is used when the wrapper must respect a particular interface and must support a polymorphic behavior. On the other hand, a facade is used when one wants an easier or simpler interface to work with.

[edit] Structure

Facade

The facade class abstracts Packages 1, 2, and 3 from the rest of the application.

Clients

The objects using the Facade Pattern to access resources from the Packages.

Packages

Software library / API collection accessed through the Facade Class.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Java

This is an abstract example of how a client ("you") interacts with a facade (the "computer") to a complex system (internal computer parts, like CPU and HardDrive).

/* Complex parts */
 
class CPU {
	public void freeze() { ... }
	public void jump(long position) { ... }
	public void execute() { ... }
}
 
class Memory {
	public void load(long position, byte[] data) {
		...
	}
}
 
class HardDrive {
	public byte[] read(long lba, int size) {
		...
	}
}
 
/* Façade */
 
class Computer {
	public void startComputer() {
		cpu.freeze();
		memory.load(BOOT_ADDRESS, hardDrive.read(BOOT_SECTOR, SECTOR_SIZE));
		cpu.jump(BOOT_ADDRESS);
		cpu.execute();
	}
}
 
/* Client */
 
class You {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Computer facade = new Computer();
		facade.startComputer();
	}
}

[edit] Python

# Complex parts
class CPU:
    def freeze(self): pass
    def jump(self, position): pass
    def execute(self): pass
 
class Memory:
    def load(self, position, data): pass
 
class HardDrive:
    def read(self, lba, size): pass
 
# Facade
class Computer:
    def __init__(self):
        self.cpu = CPU()
        self.memory = Memory()
        self.hard_drive = HardDrive()
 
    def start_computer(self):
        self.cpu.freeze()
        self.memory.load(0, self.hard_drive.read(0, 1024))
        self.cpu.jump(10)
        self.cpu.execute()
 
# Client
if __name__ == '__main__':
    facade = Computer()
    facade.start_computer()

[edit] External links

• Description from the Portland Pattern Repository
• Description from the Net Objectives Repository
• Jt J2EE Pattern Oriented Framework