ResourceFactory

ResourceFactory is a software component that centralizes the creation and provisioning of resource instances used by an application. By encapsulating instantiation logic, it decouples the code that consumes resources from the details of how they are created or configured, enabling easier maintenance and testing.

Typical implementations follow factory or abstract factory patterns. A ResourceFactory may create resources on demand (lazy initialization), manage their lifecycle, and optionally pool or cache resources to improve performance. It can select concrete resource implementations based on configuration, environment, or runtime context, returning the appropriate instance to the caller.

Common use cases include database connections, service client objects, file handles, or locale-specific resources such as strings or messages. In many frameworks, a ResourceFactory plays a role in dependency management by providing resources to components without requiring direct construction in each consumer.

Design considerations include thread safety for shared factories, caching strategy and eviction policies, resource aging, error handling during creation, and testing implications. Integration with dependency injection or service locators is common, as is support for configuration-driven resource selection and hot swapping of resource implementations.

Related concepts include resource pools, resource managers, and object factories. The term is used across programming languages and frameworks with variations in naming and scope, but the core idea remains: centralize and simplify resource creation to improve modularity and flexibility.