As its name implies, the Adapter pattern adapts two incompatible interfaces; like a plug adapter, it doesn't modify what it adjusts but bridges one interface with another. This approach can be beneficial when dealing with legacy code that you cannot refactor due to its fragility, or when you need to add features to a third-party library but don't want to modify it to avoid issues when upgrading it.
Here's a quick breakdown of the two main approaches to implementing the Adapter pattern:
- Object Adapter: In this version, the pattern uses object composition, and the adapter acts as a wrapper around the adapted object. It's helpful if we have a class that doesn't have the methods we require, but we can't modify it directly. The Object Adapter adopts the methods of the original class and adapts them to what we need.
- Class Adapter: In this version of the pattern, the adapter uses inheritance to adapt the interface of an existing...