Rama Krishna Linga said
I use to stay away from design patterns due to the confusions they brought with overlapping between different patterns. Big kudos to authors for writing such a wonderful book. They make learning design patterns so simple yet brilliant.
I am big fan of Head First books and this one stands rank 1 even among Head First books. For other topics, you can read other books and understand the concepts. But, none of the other books on design patterns was able to entice me towards design patterns.
If you are planning to read GOF / Core J2EE book, this is a must-read book to read before GOF and Core J2EE.
Jeffrey J. Rucker said
Very easy read, practical examples of design patterns. Examples are in Java, but apply just as well to c++. Irreverent writing style is enjoyable.
milkyy said
If you like reading 20 pages that could be explained in 2, you may like it.(And if you value books by the # of pages and not the amount of actual info..)
I just lose focus if I have to read more than think. And childish examples with pictures don't do it for me... If you are looking for a solid, compact and straight-to-the point book on design patterns, where each page matters, that's definitely not the one.
Local Field said
This book is a bit of a mixed bag; there are some good examples in it and it is easy to understand, but you do have to wade through a huge amount of rubbish to find the useful information. I'd say that about 80% of this book is filler and you can skip it, the problem with that of course is that you get into the habit of skipping so much that you might end up missing the few things of value. The exercises are very very basic, so if you have been programming for any length of time you will find them quite insulting. Actually I found most of the book quite insulting.
It is very java centric, so they make quite a lot of reference to the java api, but if you know another OO language well this isn't really a problem. For all my griping I would say that it is worth a look if you don't know anything about design patterns because pretty quickly you will get the idea that most of "design patterns" is about stating the obvious.
Dimitri Shvorob said
I cringe reading complaints about this book being "simplistic" or "insufferably cute". Being entertaining and simple is good! Try GoF and feel the difference - in particular, ask yourself whose examples stay in your memory. Even if the GoF book (maybe) should not be skipped altogether - for "Consequences" chapters, and a proper discussion of Bridge - definitely start with "Head First Design Patterns".
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