Template method pattern: Difference between revisions

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{{more footnotes|date=March 2012}}

In [[object-oriented programming]], the '''template method''' is one of the [[behavioral pattern|behavioral]] [[Software design pattern|design patterns]] identified by Gamma et al.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Design Patterns|last1=Gamma|first1=Erich|last2=Helm|first2=Richard|last3=Johnson|first3=Ralph|last4=Vlissides|first4=John|publisher=Addison-Wesley|year=1994|isbn=0-201-63361-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/designpatternsel00gamm/page/325 325–330]|chapter=Template Method|author-link1=Erich Gamma|author-link2=Richard Helm|author-link3=Ralph Johnson (computer scientist)|author-link4=John Vlissides|title-link=Design Patterns}}</ref> in the book ''[[Design Patterns]]''. The template method is a method in a superclass, usually an abstract superclass, and defines the skeleton of an operation in terms of a number of high-level steps. These steps are themselves implemented by additional ''helper methods'' in the same class as the ''template method''.

The ''helper methods'' may be either ''[[abstract method]]s'', in which case subclasses are required to provide concrete implementations, or ''[[Hooking|hook methods]],'' which have empty bodies in the superclass. [[Subclass (computer science)|Subclass]]es can (but are not required to) customize the operation by [[Method overriding|overriding]] the hook methods. The intent of the template method is to define the overall structure of the operation, while allowing subclasses to refine, or redefine, certain steps.<ref name=":2">{{cite book|url=http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596007126.do|title=Head First Design Patterns|last2=Freeman|first2=Elisabeth|last3=Sierra|first3=Kathy|last4=Bates|first4=Bert|publisher=O'REILLY|year=2004|isbn=978-0-596-00712-6|editor-last=Hendrickson|editor-first=Mike|volume=1|pages=289, 311|format=paperback|editor-last2=Loukides|editor-first2=Mike|last1=Freeman|first1=Eric|access-date=2012-09-12}}</ref>