Object Pool Pattern

The Object Pool pattern dictates having an object (usually a singleton) maintain a pool of reusable objects that can be checked out and in by clients who will use them. Connections to databases are the perfect candidate for this pattern.

The ConnectionFactory (CF) in the DAOExercise can be the connection-pool manager with the clients being the DAO classes. A DAO class request a connection from the CF for a query. The CF checks its pool; if there is no objects in the pool, it creates one and sends it to the DAO class, else it will pop out the object and return it. Once the DAO class is done with the query, it sends the connection back to CF and the CF puts it into the pool. The pool may have a maximum number of objects, whereby if all objects have been checked out and the CF tries to create one, it cannot and must wait for the return of an object to honour the request by the DAO class.

The Object Pool pattern benefit designs with a resource creation that is expensive, limited in number or slow that must be shared out to clients utilizing that resource. Real-world examples of the design are car rentals and timesharing.