The advantages and disadvantages of the Template Method pattern
The Template Method pattern provides you with the following advantages:
As we saw earlier in the chapter, there is no code duplication.
Code reuse happens with the Template Method pattern as it uses inheritance and not composition. Only a few methods need to be overridden.
Flexibility lets subclasses decide how to implement steps in an algorithm.
The disadvantages of Template Method patterns are as follows:
Debugging and understanding the sequence of flow in the Template Method pattern can be confusing at times. You may end up implementing a method that shouldn't be implemented or not implementing an abstract method at all. Documentation and strict error handling has to be done by the programmer.
Maintenance of the template framework can be a problem as changes at any level (low-level or high-level) can disturb the implementation. Hence, maintenance can be painful with the Template Method pattern.
