The given example is pretty damn stupid though. I can't believe anyone is taking a factory to return a string seriously. The procedural example isn't a solution

The given example is pretty damn stupid though. I can't believe anyone is taking a factory to return a string seriously. The procedural example isn't a solution either (maybe if you're stuck in the 80's). Any "given X return Y" is a mapping problem, thus all you need is a hashtable and associated map function. It can be implemented equally well in ANY paradigm.