In my current project, I find my self making factories, but for two very distinct reasons: **Reason #1**: To assist my IoC container if a particular class needs an parameter that is only known when the class is created. This might also include reading data from a config. **Reason #2**: The creation of an entity needs complex validation logic, and I want to keep this logic out of my constructor so it stays simple. Furthermore, when I create a factory for reason #2, I find myself tempted to put deletion logic there as well, as the deletion of the entity is often complex and beyond the scope of the entity being deleted; however, one would be hard pressed to call a class with a deletion method a factory. Reason #1 Example: class WidgetRepositoryFactory { IUserRepository Create(userType) { int configValue = int.Parse(Config.get("ConfigValue")); IUserRepository repo = userType == "user1" : new User1Repo(configValue) : new User2Repo(configValue); return repo; } } Reason #2 Example: class WidgetFactory { Result<Widget> Create(var1, var2) { Result r = new Result(); if (var1 < 0) { r.AddError("var1 too low!"); return r; } if (var1 > var2) { r.AddError("var1 too high!"); return r; } r.Obj = new Widget(var1, var2); r.Success = true; return r; } } When I create a factory for reason #2, is it really correct to call it a factory? Is there a better term for this kind of class? Is there preexisting terminology to describe these two very distinct cases?