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Head First Design Patterns :: 0596007124
Description
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| You're not alone. At any given moment, somewhere in the world someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. You know you don't want to reinvent the wheel (or worse, a flat tire), so you look to Design Patterns--the lessons learned by those who've faced the same problems. With Design Patterns, you get to take advantage of the best practices and experience of others, so that you can spend your time on...something else. Something more challenging. Something more complex. Something more fun. You want to learn about the patterns that matter--why to use them, when to use them, how to use them (and when NOT to use them). But you don't just want to see how patterns look in a book, you want to know how they look "in the wild". In their native environment. In other words, in real world applications. You also want to learn how patterns are used in the Java API, and how to exploit Java's built-in pattern support in your own code. You want to learn the real OO design principles and why everything your boss told you about inheritance might be wrong (and what to do instead). You want to learn how those principles will help the next time you're up a creek without a design paddle pattern. Most importantly, you want to learn the "secret language" of Design Patterns so that you can hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions his stunningly clever use of Command, Facade, Proxy, and Factory in between sips of a martini. You'll easily counter with your deep understanding of why Singleton isn't as simple as it sounds, how the Factory is so often misunderstood, or on the real relationship between Decorator, Facade and Adapter. With Head First Design Patterns, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking Decorator is something from the "Trading Spaces" show. Best of all, in a way that won't put you to sleep! We think your time is too important (and too short) to spend it struggling with academic texts. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect--a visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First Design Patterns will load patterns into your brain in a way that sticks. In a way that lets you put them to work immediately. In a way that makes you better at solving software design problems, and better at speaking the language of patterns with others on your team. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
Reviews
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Author: Guest
Very educational yet funny, very easy to understand, and to the point. If you're a java programmer then this is just the best book you will ever get. Be aware that some examples are java specific. Although java specifics are not problematic for C# and VB.Net programmers, there's no use to read them (if you're not Java developer).
I don't think this book is for VB6 programmers, because many aspects of OOP discussed are unavailable in VB6.
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Author: Guest
Fun to read with simple examples that resonate. Each pattern covered has 30 or 40 pages devoted to it as an example task is described (i.e. managing the creation of pizzas in various cities), problems come up, and are solved elegantly. This is the book you should read after you read Design Patterns.
One minor quibble-- they suggest double-checked locking as a way to manage Singleton creation in a concurrent environment. Even though it works in Java 5.0, it's still ugly (uses volatile) and unnecessary. Synchronized is much faster than it used to be, so what's the point?
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Author: Guest
Usually Java/Software Design books are so dry... But this one is fun! Some of concepts described are complex but the books explains them very clearly. The graphics and examples make you smile, which is always nice when you are trying to learn software design patterns. I work in information architecture and I found this book very useful. I recommend it.
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Author: Guest
People who give this book bad reviews owing to its presentation style are missing the point. People have different ways of learning. Some can leap to the abstract concepts fairly easily. Others (usually the majority) often need an example to help "get it" and from there can move to the abstract concept and apply it to other environments.
This book is for those who learn by example. Even better, it's fun -- a dose of much-needed humor on an otherwise dry subject.
This certainly isn't the definitive book on patterns. It's tone is certainly introductory. But if you *are* a beginning programmer or a more experienced one who is relatively new to OO or have just never needed/used patterns before it's a great way to start without worrying about falling asleep as you read.
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Author: Guest
One thing is for sure, when you pass this book in the store it will catch your attention (at least if your a male that is still breathing), however that is no way to judge a technical book. Checking out the back cover reveals a very different story - both Erich Gamma and Ward Cunningham appear to love the book, and what higher authority is there on Design Patterns? Anyway, it was enough to make me pick up the book. Inside you're going to find something very different from a computer text. What you're going to find is a completely different format created by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates that uses conversation, graphic treatment, and even puzzles to help you learn. The book has more the appearance of, say, a graphic novel than your typical O'Reilly book. It also in places is quite funny in a "wink wink" techie way.
But can you learn from this or is it just a lightweight cartoon guide to design patterns? Actually, this is where I was surprised. This book takes design patterns very seriously, and on quite a few patterns it straightened up my view of them, and in a couple places totally changed what I thought the pattern was (the factory pattern is a good example). It also does something better than any other patterns book I've read, it links design patterns to the design principles they are based on. I have been exposed to all the principles, but I can't say I'd ever put together the big picture, and this book helped me do that.
I think best of all, this book is very approachable for intermediate programmers that know a little object oriented programming but are ready to really start thinking about objects. That doesn't describe me, but I wished I'd had this book a few years back when I was learning.
In sum, if you have an open mind and are looking for an excellent source of OO and Design Patterns material, and don't actually mind having your brain tickled while you learn, then this format really works. I'm looking forward to more of these kinds of books (I've also read the Servlets book in the series).
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