What are the differences between Dependency Injection and Factory Pattern in Go?

What are the differences between Dependency Injection and Factory Pattern in Go?

Dependency Injection (DI) allows you to inject dependencies into a class, promoting loose coupling. The Factory Pattern, on the other hand, is used to create objects without specifying the exact class of the object that will be created.

Can you give me an example of how to implement Dependency Injection in Go?

Sure! In Go, you can use interfaces to define a contract and then inject the concrete implementation. For example, you might have an interface Database and a struct MySQLDatabase that implements it. You can then pass an instance of MySQLDatabase to a service that requires a Database.

What about the Factory Pattern? How would that look in Go?

In Go, you can create a factory function that returns an instance of a struct. For example, you could have a function NewDatabase that returns either a MySQLDatabase or a PostgresDatabase based on input parameters.

When should I use Dependency Injection over the Factory Pattern?

Use Dependency Injection when you want to manage dependencies externally and promote testability. Use the Factory Pattern when you need to encapsulate the creation logic of objects.