title: Does the Factory Method pattern violate the Open/Closed principle?
body: <p>Does the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_method_pattern" rel="noreferrer">Factory Method pattern</a> (not to be confused with the Factory or Abstract Factory patterns) violate the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Closed_Principle" rel="noreferrer">Open/Closed principle</a>?</p>
  
  <p>Update:
  To clarify, I'm referring to the scenario where a concrete class has static factory methods on it. For example (this is from the Wikipedia page on FMP):</p>
  
  <pre><code>class Complex 
  {
      public static Complex fromCartesian(double real, double imag) {
          return new Complex(real, imag);
      }
  
      public static Complex fromPolar(double modulus, double angle) {
          return new Complex(modulus * cos(angle), modulus * sin(angle));
      }
  
      private Complex(double a, double b) {
         //...
      }
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Doesn't the private constructor prevent the class from being subclassed, i.e. extended?</p>
  
  <p>Wouldn't the class have to be modified to support new factory methods? For example, if the class initially only had fromCartesian and later fromPolar was needed, didn't the class have to be modified to support this?</p>
  
  <p>Don't both of these violate Open/Closed?</p>