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In computer science, an instance is an occurrence of a software element that is based on a type definition. When created, an occurrence is said to have been instantiated , and both the creation process and the result of creation are called instantiation .
A class defines an implementation of an interface, and instantiating the class results in an object that exposes the implementation via the interface. [3] In the terms of type theory, a class is an implementation—a concrete data structure and collection of subroutines—while a type is an interface .
Instance (computer science), referring to any running process or to an object as an instance of a class; Table instance (or database instance), a concept in database design; see Row (database) Creation of an object (a location in memory having a value and possibly referenced by an identifier) Instance can refer to a single virtual machine in a ...
An object must be explicitly created based on a class and an object thus created is considered to be an instance of that class. An object is similar to a structure, with the addition of method pointers, member access control, and an implicit data member which locates instances of the class (i.e., objects of the class) in the class hierarchy ...
According to Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software: "Define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Factory method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses." [2] Creating an object often requires complex processes not appropriate to include within a composing object.
factory method pattern, which allows a class to defer instantiation to subclasses. [4] prototype pattern, which specifies the kind of object to create using a prototypical instance, and creates new objects by cloning this prototype. singleton pattern, which ensures that a class only has one instance, and provides a global point of access to it. [5]
In object-oriented programming, the singleton pattern is a software design pattern that restricts the instantiation of a class to a singular instance. It is one of the well-known "Gang of Four" design patterns , which describe how to solve recurring problems in object-oriented software. [ 1 ]
A language that supports creating an object from a class is classified as class-based. A language that supports object creation via a template object is classified as prototype-based. The concept of object is used in many different software contexts, including: Possibly the most common use is in-memory objects in a computer program written in ...