Proxy

This pattern is devoted to the mediation between two objects. What I refer as mediation is the series of actions executed before and after carrying out the task requested by the user. The main trait of the Proxy pattern is that it keeps the user unaware of the mediation that is being carried out in the background, because the client receives an object structured as expected, all by interacting, unknowingly, with a proxy.

The components included in the pattern are:

• IObject: It represents the common interface between the Object and the Proxy.
• Object: It represents the actual object the client wants access to.
• Proxy: Class which implements IObject and is the virtual representation of the Object.

1. The client sends a request for an object to the Factory .
2. The Factory creates a Proxy for encapsulating the Object.
3. The client executes the Proxy which was created by the Factory.
4. The Proxy performs one or more actions before the execution of the Object.
5. The Proxy hands over the execution to the Object.
6. The Proxy performs one or more actions after the execution of the Object.
7. The Proxy returns the result.

Real-world example

By implementing the Proxy design pattern, we are going to create a security mechanism that intercepts processes executions to check if the user attempting to trigger them has the required privileges, in order to restrict unauthorized executions. Furthermore, each executed process will be audited and registered. All of this will happen without the user noticing, because the proxy would encapsulate the security logic.

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