Contents  Introduction  The Problem  Meet Your Maker  How It Works  Conclusion  Printable version

Conclusion

Congratulations, you now know about pluggable factories. Keep in mind that this technique, as Mr. Culp explains, isn't just for networking messages. Basically any place in your code where you need to turn an ID byte into a class is a great place for pluggable factories. There's a lot more power contained in this pattern than I'm illustrating; the purpose of this article was to show you how to apply a theoretical concept directly to your code.

And, just maybe, to make you think twice before you cast off that "business programming journal" as useless. :)

Mason McCuskey is the leader of Spin Studios, an indie development group looking to break into the industry by creating a great game, Quaternion, and getting it published. He can be reached via the Spin Studios website (http://www.spin-studios.com), and doesn't mind answering your questions by email at mason@spin-studios.com.