Aimed at the intermediate or advanced Java developer,
Design Patterns Java Workbook provides an in-depth and challenging look at 23 `classic` software patterns illustrated with Java examples.
This title fills a valuable niche by reprising the well-known guide to patterns, Addison-Wesley's Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Software Design. While that earlier book relied on C++ and Smalltalk for its examples, this new volume uses Java code for the discussion of the same 23 design techniques. Many of the explanations draw on the author's custom classes for a hypothetical fireworks company, supplemented by material using `core` classes in standard Java. This text shows how to both recognize patterns in existing code and to incorporate them into new designs.
Early sections look at interfaces, including a standout section on trees and the Composite pattern. For the chapter on responsibility patterns, veteran Java programmers will appreciate the use of JDBC used to explain the Bridge pattern and tips for spotting other patterns in everyday Java. Builder patterns come next, with a full tour of ways to construct objects more flexibly. When it comes to operations patterns, a notable section on the Interpreter pattern presents some challenging material on language parsers.
Final chapters on extension patterns show how Java classes can extend one another using inheritance and other design principles. The discussion here of Java stream classes as examples of decorator patterns can help explain these rich (and sometimes confusing) sets of objects. Another useful section on Iterators shows how to create `type-safe` collections (normally not available in Java). Throughout this text, the author challenges the reader with dozens of easy-to-difficult questions (including actual design exercises). Complete answers are provided at the end of the book.
As a hands-on workbook that will invite you to think about patterns in Java in new ways, this text is an invaluable companion to earlier titles on patterns. Its mix of design smarts and clever examples help make it ideal for the more advanced programmer. Less experienced readers can also benefit from its intelligent presentation of some of the best available thinking in software design today, now tailored to a Java audience. --Richard Dragan
User review
Not Helpful
The intent of the author is good, i.e., providing a workshop for people who are learning GoF design patterns. But result is disappointing.
First of all, design pattern would lose most of its values (or at least it is hard to appreciate its value) if there is no design context and forces that constrain or influence the solution proposed by the pattern. The context and resolution of these forces will let the reader/designer the see the value of how a design pattern fits in and balances the forces and maintains a level of flexibility. However, each chapter of the book provides little context for the design challenges.
Secondly, I don't understand why the author picks fireworks industry as the background for all the examples in the book, it is an area that most people are not familiar with. I know design patterns are not domain specific and can be applied broadly, but knowing the background of the industry in the examples is definitely helpful for readers. And all those examples are very boring, and sometime ridiculous.
Thirdly, the author tries to provide some pattern refactoring examples, but does a lousy job compared with Joshua Kerievsky, the author of `Refactor to Patterns`, who provides clear steps to refactor from an existing causal (bad) design to a pattern. Particularly, what are the problems of the existing design and how a design pattern will solve those problems.
Overall, I am sorry to say that the author's mission failed terribly for such a good will.
User review
One of the Worst Books
I needed this book for a class. It was one of the worst books I have read. The first big problem is that every example is about fireworks. I found myself often struggling with firework concepts to understand the book. The second problem is that the book continually has questions/problems with the answer in the book. Before the concept seems to be fully explained, it is asking you to complete a diagram. I want the book to show me example, explain it and then test me, not test me beforehand.
User review
Not worth the time and money
There is no point to buy this book if you already have the book of Gang of Four. Good help to understand all the patterns is using simpler examples than what Gang of Four used. Unfortunately, this book was unable to take the advantage of Java language to use simple examples to illustrate the point and concept of each design patten.
One star might be too mean. However, if we are saying what someone already did, it would be better to use simple examples and make it easy to understand. Otherwise, what's the point?
User review
GEEKY!
The idea behind this book is a very good one: teaching patterns avoiding excessive formalisms and with a hands on approach. I had great expectations from this title which were only partially met.
The book content is sound and some of the patterns are explained in a decent way, but the workbook approach fails as most of the questions are unclear or just too trivial. I find the choice of using a firework factory to work out all of the patterns weird at best,, it makes for a very boring sequence ,, fireworks might be fun to see but who cares to learn about star presses, fuses and chemical batches? Besides squeezing all of the patterns in a single context makes for a very forced result. And how about all the swing code thrown in without a real reason? It is just distracting. The author is certainly competent, and a sharp programmer, but he could not resist the typipcal geeky tendency of making things more complicated than they really are by throwing into the discussion basically everything he likes or knows about,,. parsers, state machines, swing, recursion, object models etc etc,, not to mention the damn fireworks,, ! ;)
I am still looking forward to a book that offers a clear , no frills explanation of design patterns and presents for each pattern a series of ( a lot of ) examples from different context. That is what is n eeeded to absorb good object oriented design and patterns,, simple, clear explanations and practice, practice, practice. Meanwhile, before you go for `the book` (Design Patterns by Erich Gamma, et al ) I would recommend reading
Design Patterns Explained by Alan Shalloway.
User review
Not very useful and teaches many anti-patterns
I would recommend buying Joshua Blochs' `Effective Java,,.` and you will notice that there are many concepts that Bloch advises against and such concepts are recommended in this book.
I think it is a total waste of money.
