The Factory Method Pattern

The Factory Method is a pattern intended to help assign responsibility for creation. According to the Gang of Four, the intent of the Factory Method is to

Define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Factory Method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.^[1]

^[1] Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., Vlissides, J., Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995, p. 325.