Product Description

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 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7641 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 676 pages

Review
This is a gimmicky book that actually works for once. It is an intelligent and well thought-out discussion of Java design patterns, and if you dont know what a design pattern is then this is an excellent way to find out. It is also an interested discussion of object-oriented design. I found that the authors often anticipated my reaction to their initial explanations and asked the questions that I would have asked had it been a lecture. - Mike James, VSJ, April 2005

Argyro Kazaki, JHUG/Weekend Geeks, October 2007
To conclude, I can definitely say that I consider this book a must-have for all.

From the Publisher
This is a US educational market only edition of Head First Design Patterns.

Customer Reviews

Enlightenment
Ok, if you work in a big consultancy your boss/client may not want to see this on your desk.

If you can read the GOF patterns book, then you dont need it. If like me, you know patterns are good, but you quickly lose the will to live when seeing yet another esoteric UML diagram describing a pattern, then get this book.

One important way that this book differs from others I read, is in the examples. These actually look like something you might write and the final example using many of the major patterns was superb.

Oh, and this book is funny.

Such an easy read
This is an excellent book. I have read other books on design patterns including Design Patterns Explained by Shalloway Trott and whilst it was a good book it was rather a dry read.

By contrast the Head First book although looking a bit like a Design Patterns for Dummies type book by the cover does indeed cover the same material but in a way which is definetely easy to read and hopefully better to remember.

Where the book excels is in it's examples which clearly show you where you may wish to apply a paticular pattern which is really the key to the whole field. There may be more exhaustive books on the market but this one explains the key patterns and more importantly the principles behind them well.

I'm a C# programmer and the fact it's a Java book doesn't really make a difference. The code samples are almost exactly the same as they would be in C#. On a few occasions it does make reference to paticular Java classes to show examples of patterns in use (e.g. Iterator) but it's easy enough to relate these to their .NET equivalent and even if you can't it doesn't really matter.

All in all the most enjoyable computer book I have ever read and thoroughly recommended if you want to start learning about Design patterns and their use.

Best software book I've bought
ESSENTIAL reading if you develop or test OO software. You can read this book cover to cover (not something I'd recommend for the GoF book, unless you are actually a computer). Use this book to learn the concepts quickly, then use the excellent GoF book for reference. If you're already familiar with and have used a lot of OO patterns this book is not for you, however, if you want to learn how to design and write more robust, elegant and maintainable code, read this book now! It will even show you why some areas of the Java API have been built the way they are.
Warning: this book contains some cheesy jokes and slightly wacky examples, but you will not be worried about that when you get to the last page and realise that virtually all of it is stored securely in your mind.