What is the Decorator design pattern and how does it enhance the functionality of an object?

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What is the Decorator design pattern and how does it enhance the functionality of an object?

The Decorator design pattern is a structural design pattern that allows for dynamically adding new behaviors or functionalities to an object without modifying its existing structure. It enhances the functionality of an object by providing a flexible alternative to subclassing for extending the behavior of individual objects.

In this pattern, a decorator class wraps the original object and provides additional functionalities by adding new methods or modifying the existing ones. The decorator class implements the same interface as the original object, allowing it to be used interchangeably. This way, the decorator can add new behaviors before or after the original object's methods are called, effectively enhancing its functionality.

The decorator pattern follows the principle of Open-Closed design, as it allows for extending the functionality of an object without modifying its source code. It promotes code reusability and flexibility, as decorators can be easily combined to create different combinations of functionalities.

By using the Decorator design pattern, the functionality of an object can be enhanced at runtime, without the need to create numerous subclasses or modify the original object's code. This makes it easier to add or remove functionalities as needed, promoting code maintainability and reducing code duplication.