Factory pattern in C#: How to ensure an object instance can only be created by a factory class?

Question

Recently I\'ve been thinking about securing some of my code. I\'m curious how one could make sure an object can never be created directly, but only via some method of a fact

Answer 1

You can make the constructor private, and the factory a nested type:

public class BusinessObject
{
    private BusinessObject(string property)
    {
    }

    public class Factory
    {
        public static BusinessObject CreateBusinessObject(string property)
        {
            return new BusinessObject(property);
        }
    }
}

This works because nested types have access to the private members of their enclosing types. I know it's a bit restrictive, but hopefully it'll help...