The Factory Method pattern creates objects without specifying their exact classes. It defines an interface for creating objects, but lets subclasses decide which class to instantiate.

Example:

interface Animal {
    void makeSound();
}

abstract class AnimalFactory {
    abstract Animal createAnimal();
}

class DogFactory extends AnimalFactory {
    Animal createAnimal() {
        return new Dog();
    }
}

Benefits:

• Loose coupling between creator and concrete products
• Easy to extend with new product types
• Follows Open/Closed Principle