Head First Design Patterns (Head First) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
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Rating:  244 reviews
Sales Rank: 1635
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 676
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 8 x 1.7
ISBN: 0596007124
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.1
EAN: 9780596007126
Publication Date: October 25, 2004
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 239 more reviews...
 Irreverent, fun and <gasp> educational November 9, 2004
E. Wuehler (Portland, OR)
200 out of 229 found this review helpful
Usually when reading through a book or article on design patterns I'd have to occasionally stick myself in the eye with something just to make sure I was paying attention. Not with this book. Odd as it may sound, this book makes learning about design patterns fun.
The first thing you notice is the pages are not paragraph after paragraph of information. There isn't a single page that doesn't contain a doodle, a sidebar, a picture, or something different. While at times it can be a little distracting, it's in a good way (at least I don't have to poke myself with something sharp anymore).
The chapters cover various design patterns and along the way have exercises such as crossword puzzles or match games to test your understanding. The answers are also included at the end of the chapters - so you don't need to purchase a "Teacher's Edition" on the black market. =)
Other books on design patterns are saying, "Buehler... Buehler... Buehler..." while this book is on the float belting out "Shake it up, baby!"
Best way to learn Design Patterns November 10, 2004
Jack D. Herrington (Silicon Valley, CA)
176 out of 191 found this review helpful
At first I didn't understand how they would apply the Head First formula to design patterns. I'd read two head first before this one and I was impressed with those so I took a look and now, not only is it clear how they approached the topic, it's also clear to me that this is the best way to learn design patterns.
The Gang of Four book laid out the basics. Here is the pattern, here are some examples. The head first book goes a lot further. They show you good and bad examples of the pattern. They give solid reasoning behind the pattern. It's great.
There are times when I would look at a piece of code and have the author explain to me that it was based on one of the GoF patterns. I would come away thinking, if that's the pattern, then that pattern sucks. It's clear that patterns can be misapplied. So understanding the the how design patterns are applied, and how they are commonly applied wrongly, or to an extreme, is just as important as understanding the basic mechanics of the pattern itself.
The example code is in Java, but I think this is an ideal book for anyone passionate about patterns.
The quality is evident! January 1, 2007
Patrick Thompson (Sydney, NSW Australia)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Head first books tend to polarize readers I feel: you either love the unique methodology of the books or you hate it. They are extremely visual, often hilarious, and require you to do various activities to engage more fully with the content. This is similar to the traditional teaching methdology in mathematics: motivating example -> theory -> example -> your turn. This I find as a teacher, is a strong (pedagogical approach) methodology, particularly if you can make it fun, interesting and engaging. I, like the masses, like Head First Books (I have Servlets & JSP as well as this one. I have also read tracts of Java).
Anyway, that aside, the book provides a solid inroduction to selected design patterns- it doesn't cover all the GoF patterns. It contains (in order)
* Strategy
* Observer
* Decorator
* Factory
* Singleton
* Command
* Adapter and Facade
* Template
* Iterator and Composite
* State
* Proxy
* Compound Patterns
* Living better with Patterns
If you have no experience with patterns, I recommend this as a good Intro to the MasterWork by the GoF-> Design Patterns, Elements of reusuable Oject-oriented software IBSN: 0201633612. From personal experience, I found after reading the Head First pattern, I could pick up the GoF book, look at the same pattern and understand it with virtually no problems.
I have no hesitation recommending this book, if you like the Head First way, championed by Kathy Sierra. If you don't like apparent frivolity (I say apparent because there is an ulterior motive to this frivolity-> engagement. Basically, cognitive psychology says the more deeply you engage, the more you learn, retain and understand), then maybe this isn't for you.
Slight criticism-> you may notice this book uses some 'old' java syntax like using iterators for collections like arrayLists, rather than the new for (object j: collection) and no generics in sight in declaring such arrayLists: they use ArrayList name=new ArrayList(), not ArrayListname=new ArrayList(); But these are 'very' minor criticisms. Likewise, it's usefulness as a comprehensive reference like the GoF book may be questionable. But then, if you approach it as a learning tool and a means to mastery rather than a reference, this shouldn't be an issue (you can always resell it when you're done!).
Anyway, in conclusion, two thumbs up. Read it, do the work, enjoy it and you'll be well on the way to the GoF's MasterWork in design patterns. All the 5 star reviews don't lie! This is a five star book.
As an aside I recommend, in addition to this and GoF, reading Streamlined Object Modeling- patterns, rules and implementation- ISBN: 0130668397 for higher level OO system design (OO system architecture). And just so you don't fell excluded from the vernacular (and didn't know this): GoF=Gang of Four (Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides)
Why a pattern? June 28, 2005
Thomas Paul (Plainview, NY USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Disclaimer: I served as a technical reviewer for several chapters of this book.
Understanding design patterns and how they are used in developing an application is a critical skill. It is important that developers be able to make use of the same lexicon when discussing application architecture. Books like "Design Patterns" by Eric Gamma, et al (affectionately referred to as the Gang of Four, or GoF) do well to catalog design patterns and provide this lexicon but they are difficult to use as a guide to learning and understanding design patterns, especially for the less-experience developer. "Head First Design Patterns" provides the skills required to learn and understand what design patterns are and how to use them and does it in a fun, easy-to-read way.
Although this book does present many of the patterns found in the GoF book, it is not a design pattern catalog. Its real goal is to help the reader look at their applications in new ways to discover how design patterns can simplify their development efforts. Patterns are covered in great detail, some may say in almost too much detail, but the end result is a thorough understanding of the patterns under discussion as well as the whole reasoning behind using patterns in the first place.
Each pattern is discussed in a similar way. It generally starts with a programming problem that has been handed to the development team. They look at a typical, non-design pattern solution and point out the problems with this solution, usually involving issues with making future changes. The team then starts looking for alternate solutions and discovers a design pattern. The application is then refactored using the design pattern. Simplified UML diagrams and easy to follow Java programs are used throughout the book. All of this is done in an amusing way that will keep the reader interested and not distracted.
I can strongly recommend this book for any developer with a sense of humor who wishes to understand design patterns. Even if you are not a Java programmer, the programs are simple enough for any developer using an object oriented language to understand. The book does a great job of explaining object oriented design goals and showing how each pattern fits into those goals. You won't find a discussion of every design pattern known but you will find a highly instructive discussion of some of the most common patterns. Reading this book will provide you with the skills to understand design patterns and to understand why you should be using them.
What's with the hot chick on the cover ??? December 18, 2004
Riccardo Audano (Chiavari, Italy)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
So, you got your ideas about Java and basic OO programming fixed and want to go deeper? This is the perfect book to help you in your quest. It's an easy to read but still very technical and precise tutorial on design patterns and OO design strategies. It finally demistifies a central part of OO programming that was considered hard and very advanced just because there were no well done and accessible text describing it. And plus, you will get all this in a lively, varied, funny and attention-catching exposition. Superficially it appears just a book made by "unconventiional" authors who like to personalize their work, but behind it are important ideas about what makes learning, studying and paying attention hard and painful or easy and fun.
If you read the preface and pay attention to how the book is organized you will also get a lesson in learning theory and on how to make your teaching more effective and interesting and your study hours more rewarding. So it is a very useful book both for the student and the teacher.
We need a translation in italian SOON! ;)
My only perplexity is this: Kathy I know your ideas about reviving the stagnant tech book market by making books more fun and passionating, but what's with the hot chick on the cover? OK, I agree it is way more interesting than the standard O'Reilly animals.. but still...that's exploiting hormons, not being interesting ;)
Anyhow.. number ONE book on design patterns, sorry GOF
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