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Real World Example

A generic example would be you ordering food at a restaurant. You (i.e. Client) ask the waiter (i.e. Invoker) to bring some food (i.e. Command) and waiter simply forwards the request to Chef (i.e. Receiver) who has the knowledge of what and how to cook. Another example would be you (i.e. Client) switching on (i.e. Command) the television (i.e. Receiver) using a remote control (Invoker).

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In Plain Words

Allows you to encapsulate actions in objects. The key idea behind this pattern is to provide the means to decouple client from receiver.

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Wikipedia Says

In object-oriented programming, the command pattern is a behavioral design pattern in which an object is used to encapsulate all information needed to perform an action or trigger an event at a later time. This information includes the method name, the object that owns the method and values for the method parameters.

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Programmatic Example

First of all we have the receiver that has the implementation of every action that could be performed: 
// Receiver
class Bulb
{
    public function turnOn()
    {
        echo "Bulb has been lit";
    }

    public function turnOff()
    {
        echo "Darkness!";
    }
}
Then we have an interface that each of the commands are going to implement and then we have a set of commands: 
interface Command
{
    public function execute();
    public function undo();
    public function redo();
}

// Command
class TurnOn implements Command
{
    protected $bulb;

    public function __construct(Bulb $bulb)
    {
        $this->bulb = $bulb;
    }

    public function execute()
    {
        $this->bulb->turnOn();
    }

    public function undo()
    {
        $this->bulb->turnOff();
    }

    public function redo()
    {
        $this->execute();
    }
}

class TurnOff implements Command
{
    protected $bulb;

    public function __construct(Bulb $bulb)
    {
        $this->bulb = $bulb;
    }

    public function execute()
    {
        $this->bulb->turnOff();
    }

    public function undo()
    {
        $this->bulb->turnOn();
    }

    public function redo()
    {
        $this->execute();
    }
}
Then we have an Invoker with whom the client will interact to process any commands: 
// Invoker
class RemoteControl
{
    public function submit(Command $command)
    {
        $command->execute();
    }
}
Finally let’s see how we can use it in our client: 
$bulb = new Bulb();

$turnOn = new TurnOn($bulb);
$turnOff = new TurnOff($bulb);

$remote = new RemoteControl();
$remote->submit($turnOn); // Bulb has been lit!
$remote->submit($turnOff); // Darkness!

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Transaction-Based Systems

Command pattern can also be used to implement a transaction based system. Where you keep maintaining the history of commands as soon as you execute them. If the final command is successfully executed, all good otherwise just iterate through the history and keep executing the undo on all the executed commands.

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Key Points

  • Decouples the object that invokes the operation from the one that knows how to perform it
  • Makes it easy to add new commands without changing existing code
  • Enables undo/redo functionality
  • Allows queuing and logging of requests

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