The builder pattern is an object creation software design pattern. Unlike the abstract factory pattern and the factory method pattern whose intention is to enable polymorphism, the intention of the builder pattern is to find a solution to the telescoping constructor anti-pattern. The telescoping constructor anti-pattern occurs when the increase of object constructor parameter combination leads to an exponential list of constructors. Instead of using numerous constructors, the builder pattern uses another object, a builder, that receives each initialization parameter step by step and then returns the resulting constructed object at once.

-Wikipedia

The main goal of the builder pattern is to setup a default configuration for an object from its creation. It is an intermediary between the object will be built and all other objects related to building it.

Example:

To make it more clear, let’s take a look at a Car Builder example.

Consider that we have a Car class contains many options to create an object, such as:

• Color.
• Number of seats.
• Number of wheels.
• Type.
• Gear type.
• Motor.
• Airbag availability.

import UIKit

enum CarType {
    case
    
    sportage,
    saloon
}

enum GearType {
    case
    
    manual,
    automatic
}

struct Motor {
    var id: String
    var name: String
    var model: String
    var numberOfCylinders: UInt8
}

class Car: CustomStringConvertible {
    var color: UIColor
    var numberOfSeats: UInt8
    var numberOfWheels: UInt8
    var type: CarType
    var gearType: GearType
    var motor: Motor
    var shouldHasAirbags: Bool
    
    var description: String {
        return "color: \\(color)\\nNumber of seats: \\(numberOfSeats)\\nNumber of Wheels: \\(numberOfWheels)\\n Type: \\(gearType)\\nMotor: \\(motor)\\nAirbag Availability: \\(shouldHasAirbags)"
    }
    
    init(color: UIColor, numberOfSeats: UInt8, numberOfWheels: UInt8, type: CarType, gearType: GearType, motor: Motor, shouldHasAirbags: Bool) {
        
        self.color = color
        self.numberOfSeats = numberOfSeats
        self.numberOfWheels = numberOfWheels
        self.type = type
        self.gearType = gearType
        self.motor = motor
        self.shouldHasAirbags = shouldHasAirbags
        
    }
}

Creating a car object:

let aCar = Car(color: UIColor.black,
               numberOfSeats: 4,
               numberOfWheels: 4,
               type: .saloon,
               gearType: .automatic,
               motor: Motor(id: "101", name: "Super Motor",
                            model: "c4", numberOfCylinders: 6),
               shouldHasAirbags: true)

print(aCar)

/* Printing
 color: UIExtendedGrayColorSpace 0 1
 Number of seats: 4
 Number of Wheels: 4
 Type: automatic
 Motor: Motor(id: "101", name: "Super Motor", model: "c4", numberOfCylinders: 6)
 Airbag Availability: true
*/

The problem arises when creating a car object is that the car requires many configuration data to be created.

For applying the Builder Pattern, the initializer parameters should have default values which are changeable if needed.

CarBuilder class:

class CarBuilder {
    var color: UIColor = UIColor.black
    var numberOfSeats: UInt8 = 5
    var numberOfWheels: UInt8 = 4
    var type: CarType = .saloon
    var gearType: GearType = .automatic
    var motor: Motor = Motor(id: "111", name: "Default Motor",
                             model: "T9", numberOfCylinders: 4)
    var shouldHasAirbags: Bool = false
    
    func buildCar() -> Car {
        return Car(color: color, numberOfSeats: numberOfSeats, numberOfWheels: numberOfWheels, type: type, gearType: gearType, motor: motor, shouldHasAirbags: shouldHasAirbags)
    }
}