Proxy Pattern

Real world example

Have you ever used an access card to go through a door? There are multiple options to open that door i.e. it can be opened either using access card or by pressing a button that bypasses the security. The door's main functionality is to open but there is a proxy added on top of it to add some functionality. Let me better explain it using the code example below.

In plain words

Using the proxy pattern, a class represents the functionality of another class.

Wikipedia says

A proxy, in its most general form, is a class functioning as an interface to something else. A proxy is a wrapper or agent object that is being called by the client to access the real serving object behind the scenes. Use of the proxy can simply be forwarding to the real object, or can provide additional logic. In the proxy extra functionality can be provided, for example caching when operations on the real object are resource intensive, or checking preconditions before operations on the real object are invoked.

Programmatic Example Taking our security door example from above. Firstly we have the door interface and an implementation of door

/*
Door interface :

open()
close()
*/

class LabDoor {
    open() {
        console.log('Opening lab door')
    }

    close() {
        console.log('Closing the lab door')
    }
}

Then we have a proxy to secure any doors that we want

class Security {
    constructor(door) {
        this.door = door
    }

    open(password) {
        if (this.authenticate(password)) {
            this.door.open()
        } else {
        	console.log('Big no! It ain\'t possible.')
        }
    }

    authenticate(password) {
        return password === 'ecr@t'
    }

    close() {
        this.door.close()
    }
}

And here is how it can be used

const door = new Security(new LabDoor())
door.open('invalid') // Big no! It ain't possible.

door.open('ecr@t') // Opening lab door
door.close() // Closing lab door