Design Patterns: Factories VS Abstract Factories

[tim]

What is the difference between Factories and Abstract Factories? Is the
Abstract Factory just the defined Abstract Class with its Abstract
Methods?

 

[Oliver Wong]

What is the difference between Factories and Abstract Factories? Is the
Abstract Factory just the defined Abstract Class with its Abstract
Methods?

As the name implies, an the difference between Factories and Abstract
Factories is that the factories are abstract in the latter, whereas they are
typically concrete in the former.

Usually with Abstract Factory, you'll have a "root" factory which
produces the abstract factory, which produces the actual objects you're
interested in.

- Oliver