Factory vs strategy pattern

The strategy pattern is used to solve problems that might (or is foreseen they might) be implemented or solved by different strategies and that possess a clearly defined interface for such cases .

The basic structure of a strategy design pattern in UML with three basic components: Context (main class), Strategy (interface) and ConcreteStrategies (outsourced algorithms and solution policies for solving the specific problem) .

Strategy pattern is also known as Policy Pattern. We define multiple algorithms and let client application pass the algorithm to be used as a parameter. One of the best example of strategy pattern is Collections. sort() method that takes Comparator parameter .

Strategy is a behavioral design pattern that lets you define a family of algorithms, put each of them into a separate class, and make their objects interchangeable.

Design Patterns – Strategy Pattern