What is the difference between singleton and…

Singleton: Ensures that a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it. Used when a single object is needed to coordinate actions across the system (e.g., logging, caching).

public class Singleton {
    private static Singleton instance;
    private Singleton() {} // Private constructor

    public static Singleton getInstance() {
        if (instance == null) {
            instance = new Singleton();
        }
        return instance;
    }
    // ... other methods
}

Prototype: Specifies the types of objects to create using a prototypical instance and creates new objects by copying this prototype. Used when object creation is expensive or complex, or when many similar objects with small differences are needed.

public class Prototype implements Cloneable {
    private String property;

    public Prototype(String property) {
        this.property = property;
    }

    public void setProperty(String property) {
        this.property = property;
    }

    public String getProperty() {
        return property;
    }

    @Override
    public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
        return super.clone(); // Default shallow copy
    }
    // ... other methods
}

Main differences:

Characteristic	Singleton	Prototype
Purpose	Single instance of a class	Creating copies of existing objects
Number of objects	Always one instance	Arbitrary number of copies
Access method	Via static method `getInstance()`	Via `clone()` method (copying the prototype)
Copying	Not applicable	Used (shallow or deep copy)

What is the difference between singleton and prototype patterns?