difference between builder pattern and abstract factory

[subu ananthram]

Hi
I am preparing for my SCEA 1 .i am a bit muddled after reading about the builder and abstract factor pattern
They seem so similar what is the difference between the two
Could anyone help me out
Cheers
Priya

[Deriko Prata]

hello there,

Both are creational patterns, although they seem similar, the key factor to distinguish them , is their intention. The builder pattern consists in constructing a complex object, by directing the steps of its creation, thereby you can have different final products. The abstract factory pattern, combines factory methods to delegate the responsibility of creating a group of related objects(family) to its concrete subclasses.