Customer Reviews

Head First Design Patterns

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oh sure, we've all got the Gang-Of-Four Design Patterns books on the shelf, right up there next to Knuth. I'd yank down my dusty copy whenever I needed to look up what a fellow coder meant by Facade or Visitor. (Actually, the short description of the patterns on the inside front cover usually was enough to fake my way through the rest of the conversation.)

In contrast, I charged through Head First Design Patterns in all of about two days. It was my first exposure to the breezy diagram- and photo-laden Head First series. You could consider the non-text portions to be just so much tree-killing fluff, but I found them a pleasant respite from what is, at heart, a pretty dry subject.

There were more than a few times during my reading that I sat back, whistled, and said aloud, "so that's how that works." The book covers the most common patterns from GoF in an incremental order. I was disappointed that some patterns were lumped in the last "Leftover Patterns" chapter because I would've enjoyed the authors' take on them, particularly the Flyweight pattern, a personal fave.

Examples are illustrated using Java. That's definitely an improvement over the templated C++ in GoF, but it does illustrate a failing: the old-school object-oriented languages like C++ and Java needed patterns to solve common problems. The latest batch of OO/functional languages like Python and Ruby have little use for some patterns, and add new patterns all their own. For instance, what use is there for an iterator pattern in Ruby that uses closures to loop? Why bother with factory patterns in languages with first-order functions and class objects?

That opinion aside, patterns are still an everyday matter for the OO practitioner, and Head First Design Patterns is a superb introduction to them.

The book is absolutely simple. Exercises are fairly helpful. Small asides are good reminders for the concepts.

Overall a great book for programmers that never use design patterns but still get GoF for a much deeper understanding of these patterns.

Head First Design Patterns gets you up to speed on this vital topic. Perfect for the beginner and an excellent resource for even the most accomplished OO designer this book provides easy-to-understand examples, and covers a wide range of patterns. If you are looking for a book that you can truly learn from then this book is for you.

While I think it greatly helps that this book happens to fit my skill level perfectly (I know everything it assumes I know, and I don't know most of what it assumes I don't know), it is really amazingly well designed as a learning tool. There are some books (like the GoF book that this is based off of) that are such an unbelievable chore to absorb, requiring a monumental effort to get anything out of, but Head First Design Patterns is built specifically to avoid that exact problem.

Normally, we see low-level books that are written in an accessible manner, with high-level books written pretty much ignoring accessibility, leaving the reader to fend for himself. But it doesn't have to be that way. Head First Design Patterns is a high-level book written to be accessible. You will be floored by just how fast you can read this book, and just how fast you can learn what it teaches.

Head First Design Patterns is an outstanding book. I first encountered this book when a friend loaned me his copy when I was in a bit of a time crunch. My first thought was "oh, man, I've got no time, and this book is HUGE!" Well, after 5 minutes of reading, I knew that I had jumped to conclusions. The Head First books are really good at conveying their subject matter, and do so quickly. Personally, I really think in terms of analogies, and when I am explaining something to someone else, I use analogies to get my point across. After reading Head First Design Patterns cover to cover, I don't think I could point to another book that is better tailored to my (and I hope your) kind of thinking. I've already used several of the chapters to help out with specific projects. Don't let the fact that this book is aimed at Java Developers. You can just as easily apply it's contents to C++ or any other object oriented language. Heck, I've even implemented some of the patterns in plain-old ANSI-C (i.e., a non-OO language), with great results (there are many books out there on how to implement objects in a non-OO language). If you are doing much code development, either as a student, hobbyist or professional, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I have over 4 years of experience with programming and through all this years I've read many books that try to explain Design Patterns; I got to master Design Patterns after I read this book. It's so smart the way they explain everything and how they use real life examples to make you understand what something 'abstract' really means. It's highly recommended! I'm a PHP developer and although the books is written with Java examples, most (if not all) of the examples and cases can be brought with no problem to PHP.

It's not only the best design patterns book, it's one of the best books I've ever read.

5 stars

I have read many OOP principle / design pattern books and this one stands out as a clear winner for anyone new to the subject. An especially invaluable recommendation to your peers if you want them up to speed quick.

Even without completing all of the multi-discipline evaluation tests (from crosswords to sketches) I found the retention level of this book to be extremely high. The authors clearly had fun letting their geek humour loose - it really helps with what can sometimes be an inaccessible subject matter.

My only criticism would be aimed at one or two of the examples. I enjoyed the story telling and settings, but whilst I sympathise with the paradox of needing to provide examples, some were verging on bad design (e.g. coffee decorator!). But I think the authors state regularly the real merits of the patterns, so I for one will let this slide.

Great. Well considered and takes the original GoF Design Patterns book forward.

I loved the approach this book presents us: we build the patterns ourselves, facing the challenges proposed, coding together with the authors. In the end, if you did not knew you will end up mastering these patterns. If you knew them already, you will no longer have doubts, specially those very stupid ones, when we have a knowledge full of gaps.

You can actually have fun reading this book. Also, you do not have to read it from cover to cover. Just pick up the pattern you are interested in studying and it will suffice.

I am only sorry they do not present another set of patterns, but only the most used. All patterns should be covered and even those J2EE related. It would be of immense help!

Great book for beginner to go through design pattern without boring yourself. The diagram and little conversation style is very interesting. Repeat all the key points through out the book, let you refresh your memory. It is recommended for self-learner.

I'm a biologist learning to write applications so I only have a very limited background in application design. After trying to read the Gang of Four book by Gamma et al a numerous times with limited success, I stumble across this book and found it to be much more understandable and fun to read. It gives plenty of examples to illustrate subtle programming principles. It may not be as rigorous as the GoF book, but it's a great introduction to the topic. I would recommend reading this book in full and use the GoF book as a reference.