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Head First Design Patterns

Head First Design Patterns

Head First Design Patterns
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Head First

By Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra

O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2004, Paperback

Customer Rating: 237 reviews   Recommend

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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.

Product Details

Title: Head First Design Patterns (Head First)
Sales Rank: 1233 in Books
Author: Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1 edition, 2004-10-25, Paperback, 676 pages, ISBN: 0596007124
Package Dimensions: 9.13 x 7.95 x 1.73 inches, 3.31 pounds

Customer Reviews
Head First is good for your brain.
I love this book. It is my first Head First book and I intend to buy more. It is really a fun way to learn. Though the book deals with some advanced topics, the way the material is presented makes it easier to get into your brain.
My suggestion is to pick up one of these books in a book store, skim through it to get the idea of where they're…   More reviews
Finally!
Finally, a book that explains the basic design patterns, in Java, in a way that makes sense.   More reviews
Amazing and fun book
The promise they make on the preface of the book is true. The knowledge really sticks to your brain, part due to the examples and part due to the language the authors use along the text. Just one thing to record, the authors were too humble declaring it can't be considered a reference guide, yes it is, although fun, the book…   More reviews
The best way to learn the main design patterns
The "Head First" book series is the best product that O'Reilly makes and Head First Design Patterns is a perfect example of the quality and innovation inherent in this great series.
If you only need to learn the main design patterns or if you want to find out what the deal is with this whole 'design pattern' thing then…   More reviews
Wonderfull
It's really wonderfull. Not only funny to read, the most important thing: you learn a lot with it.
If you know very much about patterns and object oriented design you may find it useless... but even then you'll admit it's a great book for beginners and for people (not only beginners) who's been…   More reviews
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