Factory methods are static methods that return an instance of the native class(保护CONSTRUCTOR)

Factory methods are static methods that return an instance of the native class. Examples in the JDK:

• LogManager.getLogManager
• Pattern.compile
• Collections.unmodifiableCollection, Collections.synchronizeCollection , and so on
• Calendar.getInstance

Factory methods:

• have names, unlike constructors, which can clarify code.
• do not need to create a new object upon each invocation - objects can be cached and reused, if necessary.
• can return a subtype of their return type - in particular, can return an object whose implementation class is unknown to the caller. This is a very valuable and widely used feature in many frameworks which use interfaces as the return type of static factory methods.

Common names for factory methods include  getInstance  and  valueOf . These names are not mandatory - choose whatever makes sense for each case.

Example 

public final class ComplexNumber {

  /**
  * Static factory method returns an object of this class.
  */
  public static ComplexNumber valueOf(float aReal, float aImaginary) {
    return new ComplexNumber(aReal, aImaginary);
  }

  /**
  * Caller cannot see this private constructor.
  *
  * The only way to build a ComplexNumber is by calling the static 
  * factory method.
  */
  private ComplexNumber(float aReal, float aImaginary) {
    fReal = aReal;
    fImaginary = aImaginary;
  }

  private float fReal;
  private float fImaginary;

  //..elided
}