In object-oriented programming, the template method is one of the behavioral design patterns identified by Gamma et al.[1] 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 methods, in which case subclasses are required to provide concrete implementations, or hook methods, which have empty bodies in the superclass. Subclasses can (but are not required to) customize the operation by 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.[2]
This pattern has two main parts:
At run-time, the algorithm represented by the template method is executed by sending the template message to an instance of one of the concrete subclasses. Through inheritance, the template method in the base class starts to execute. When the template method sends a message to self requesting one of the helper methods, the message will be received by the concrete sub-instance. If the helper method has been overridden, the overriding implementation in the sub-instance will execute; if it has not been overridden, the inherited implementation in the base class will execute. This mechanism ensures that the overall algorithm follows the same steps every time while allowing the details of some steps to depend on which instance received the original request to execute the algorithm.
This pattern is an example of inversion of control because the high-level code no longer determines what algorithms to run; a lower-level algorithm is instead selected at run-time.
Some of the self-messages sent by the template method may be to hook methods. These methods are implemented in the same base class as the template method, but with empty bodies (i.e., they do nothing). Hook methods exist so that subclasses can override them, and can thus fine-tune the action of the algorithm without the need to override the template method itself. In other words, they provide a "hook" on which to "hang" variant implementations.
In the above UML class diagram, the AbstractClass defines a templateMethod() operation that defines the skeleton (template) of a behavior by
primitive1() and primitive2() , which, because they are implemented in SubClass1 , allow that subclass to provide a variant implementation of those parts of the algorithm.
The template method is used in frameworks, where each implements the invariant parts of a domain's architecture, while providing hook methods for customization. This is an example of inversion of control. The template method is used for the following reasons.[3]
The template pattern is useful when working with auto-generated code. The challenge of working with generated code is that changes to the source code will lead to changes in the generated code; if hand-written modifications have been made to the generated code, these will be lost. How, then, should the generated code be customized?
The Template pattern provides a solution. If the generated code follows the template method pattern, the generated code will all be an abstract superclass. Provided that hand-written customizations are confined to a subclass, the code generator can be run again without risk of over-writing these modifications. When used with code generation, this pattern is sometimes referred to as the generation gap pattern.[7]
This C++14 implementation is based on the pre C++98 implementation in the book.
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
class View { // AbstractClass
public:
// defines abstract primitive operations that concrete subclasses define to implement steps of an algorithm.
virtual void doDisplay() {}
// implements a template method defining the skeleton of an algorithm. The template method calls primitive operations as well as operations defined in AbstractClass or those of other objects.
void display() {
setFocus();
doDisplay();
resetFocus();
}
virtual ~View() = default;
private:
void setFocus() {
std::cout << "View::setFocus\n";
}
void resetFocus() {
std::cout << "View::resetFocus\n";
}
};
class MyView : public View { // ConcreteClass
// implements the primitive operations to carry out subclass-specific steps of the algorithm.
void doDisplay() override {
// render the view's contents
std::cout << "MyView::doDisplay\n";
}
};
int main() {
// The smart pointers prevent memory leaks
std::unique_ptr<View> myview = std::make_unique<MyView>();
myview->display();
}
The program output is
View::setFocus
MyView::doDisplay
View::resetFocus
