Template method design pattern allows one to create a template of code or algorithm which will provide guidelines for other developers on how to write the solution for different implementations.

To keep it simple, let’s go back to HTML template. HTML template lets you define overall look and feel of page without getting into details. For example, I want all my pages to have a header, a footer, left panel, right panel, middle content panel. I might want to add some parts are fixed, say header and footer will always looks same, but center, right and left can be customized by users.

Same principle is used in template design pattern. Say I have to implement a template reading data from database.

Step 1: get database connection
Step 2: create query
Step 3: Execute Query
Step 4: Parse Data
Step 5: Close connections

Here Step 1, 3 and 5 are common for all type of queries but Step 2 and 4 will be data dependent. This can be achieved by Template Method pattern.

A good explanation can be seen here

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