Looking for a loader design pattern

The Loader design pattern, also known as the Lazy Loading pattern, is a creational design pattern used to defer the creation of an object until it is actually needed. This pattern is especially useful when creating resource-intensive objects or performing time-consuming operations during object instantiation. By delaying the object's creation until it's required, the Loader pattern helps optimize memory usage and improve application performance.

The Loader pattern involves three main components:

1. Subject (Loader): The Subject is responsible for managing the loading of the object. It holds a reference to the actual object (the RealSubject) and provides an interface to access it.

2. RealSubject (Actual Object): The RealSubject represents the actual object that is loaded lazily. It contains the resource-intensive or time-consuming operations that should be deferred until necessary.

3. Client (Invoker): The Client is the component that requests the object from the Loader. It interacts with the Loader using the common interface, without being aware of whether the RealSubject has been loaded or not.

Here's a basic example of the Loader design pattern in JavaScript:

javascriptCopy code
// RealSubject (Actual Object)
class Image {
  constructor(url) {
    this.url = url;
    this.loadImageFromURL();
  }

  loadImageFromURL() {
    console.log(`Loading image from URL: ${this.url}`);
    // Simulate time-consuming image loading
  }

  display() {
    console.log(`Displaying image from URL: ${this.url}`);
  }
}

// Loader
class ImageLoader {
  constructor(url) {
    this.url = url;
    this.image = null;
  }

  loadImage() {
    if (!this.image) {
      this.image = new Image(this.url);
    }
    return this.image;
  }
}

// Client (Invoker)
const imageUrl = 'https://example.com/image.jpg';
const loader = new ImageLoader(imageUrl);
// The actual Image object is not created until loadImage() is called.
const image = loader.loadImage();
// Now, the Image object is loaded, and its loadImageFromURL() method is called.
image.display();

In this example, the ImageLoader acts as the Loader, and the Image class is the RealSubject. When the loadImage() method of the ImageLoader is called, it checks if the Image object has been created (loaded) or not. If not, it creates the Image object and calls its loadImageFromURL() method to simulate the time-consuming process of loading the image. Subsequent calls to loadImage() return the already loaded Image object.

The Loader pattern is particularly useful when dealing with objects that are resource-intensive to create or time-consuming to initialize, as it helps avoid unnecessary object creation until they are actually needed.