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Template Method

Template Method in Rust

Template Method is a behavioral design pattern that allows you to define a skeleton of an algorithm in a base class and let subclasses override the steps without changing the overall algorithm’s structure.

Learn more about Template Method

Conceptual Example

main.rs

trait TemplateMethod {
    fn template_method(&self) {
        self.base_operation1();
        self.required_operations1();
        self.base_operation2();
        self.hook1();
        self.required_operations2();
        self.base_operation3();
        self.hook2();
    }

    fn base_operation1(&self) {
        println!("TemplateMethod says: I am doing the bulk of the work");
    }

    fn base_operation2(&self) {
        println!("TemplateMethod says: But I let subclasses override some operations");
    }

    fn base_operation3(&self) {
        println!("TemplateMethod says: But I am doing the bulk of the work anyway");
    }

    fn hook1(&self) {}
    fn hook2(&self) {}

    fn required_operations1(&self);
    fn required_operations2(&self);
}

struct ConcreteStruct1;

impl TemplateMethod for ConcreteStruct1 {
    fn required_operations1(&self) {
        println!("ConcreteStruct1 says: Implemented Operation1")
    }

    fn required_operations2(&self) {
        println!("ConcreteStruct1 says: Implemented Operation2")
    }
}

struct ConcreteStruct2;

impl TemplateMethod for ConcreteStruct2 {
    fn required_operations1(&self) {
        println!("ConcreteStruct2 says: Implemented Operation1")
    }

    fn required_operations2(&self) {
        println!("ConcreteStruct2 says: Implemented Operation2")
    }
}

fn client_code(concrete: impl TemplateMethod) {
    concrete.template_method()
}

fn main() {
    println!("Same client code can work with different concrete implementations:");
    client_code(ConcreteStruct1);
    println!();

    println!("Same client code can work with different concrete implementations:");
    client_code(ConcreteStruct2);
}

Output

Same client code can work with different concrete implementations:
TemplateMethod says: I am doing the bulk of the work
ConcreteStruct1 says: Implemented Operation1
TemplateMethod says: But I let subclasses override some operations
ConcreteStruct1 says: Implemented Operation2
TemplateMethod says: But I am doing the bulk of the work anyway

Same client code can work with different concrete implementations:
TemplateMethod says: I am doing the bulk of the work
ConcreteStruct2 says: Implemented Operation1
TemplateMethod says: But I let subclasses override some operations
ConcreteStruct2 says: Implemented Operation2
TemplateMethod says: But I am doing the bulk of the work anyway

Template Method in Other Languages