Components of the Proxy Pattern

Imagine you have a friend who’s an expert at solving puzzles, but you don’t want to bother them all the time. You’d like someone to help you access their puzzle-solving skills when needed.

• Subject: Your friend’s ability to solve puzzles is like the Subject. This is the core thing you want to use, which is solving puzzles.
• Real Object: Your friend is the Real Object in this case. They can solve puzzles really well, but it might take some time and effort to engage them every time you need help.
• Proxy: Now let’s introduce a Proxy. In this scenario, the proxy could be your other friend, who acts as an intermediary. When you have a puzzle to solve, you talk to this proxy friend. The proxy friend decides if the puzzle is simple enough to handle themselves. If it’s a tough puzzle, they’ll ask your puzzle-solving expert friend for help.

In simple terms, the Proxy Pattern is like having a middle person (proxy) who decides when to get help from the real expert (real object) and when to handle things themselves. It’s a way to manage and control access to someone’s skills without bothering them unnecessarily.

Design Patterns are an essential part of software engineering, offering proven solutions to common problems encountered during software development. One such pattern is the Proxy Pattern. The Proxy Pattern is a structural design pattern that provides a surrogate or placeholder for another object, allowing you to control access to it. This pattern can be particularly useful in situations where you need to add an extra layer of control, lazy loading, or remote access to objects.