The Abstract Factory pattern, although not present in many end-user applications, finds ample grace in the development of user-configurable toolkits and frameworks. Instead of locking the developer into a particular set of controls or objects that will be used by the framework, the abstract factory instead lets developers substitute their own controls when necessary.
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Drop-down list-of-values populated by database tables are another important component of enterprise-grade web frameworks. Although most frameworks do support them through one technique or other, the ease of implementation is key in this often-used feature.
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A powerful database schema is one of the key components of an enterprise application. Using the database to enforce business logic and ensure data integrity enables both flexibility and scalability in application design. By coding business logic in both the database layer and application layer, the database has the flexibility to then also be used by other applications and processes without fear of corrupting data. In addition, other systems can take advantage of stored procedures or views that make future development easier, instead of the platform lock-in created by storing all business logic in the application itself.
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