Applied Java Patterns [Paperback]

Stephen Stelting (Author), Olav Maassen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130935387 | ISBN-13: 978-0130935380 | Publication Date: January 5, 2002 | Edition: 1

Sun Microsystems experts Stelting and Maassen describe how design patterns can be applied effectively to the Java platform and present proven techniques for all types of patterns, from system architecture to single classes. Applied Java Patterns features a pattern catalog organized into four major categories - the creational, structural, behavioral, and system patterns. In addition, the authors identify patterns in the core Java APIs and present techniques for pattern use in distributed development.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A hands-on guide to design patterns for Java platform developers.

• Pattern-based solutions for every stage of the development lifecycle
• Documents 30 patterns, including the 23 core patterns for the Sun Certified Enterprise Architect exam
• Describes pattern use within the Java APIs—including patterns for reflection, security, AWT/Swing, RMI, JDBC, J2EE, and more

Increasingly, developers are recognizing the value of design patterns in helping to create more robust, scalable, reliable, and maintainable applications. Now there's a book that can help you bring the power of patterns to your Java-based projects.

Sun Microsystems experts Steve Stelting and Olav Maassen bring together today's best pattern-based techniques and demonstrate pattern use for a variety of business systems. This practical guide features proven techniques for all types of patterns, from system architecture to single classes

After briefly reviewing the fundamentals of design patterns, the authors describe how these patterns can be applied effectively to the Java platform. Next, they provide a pattern catalog, organized into four major categories—the creational, behavioral, structural, and system patterns. In addition, they identify patterns and present techniques for pattern use in the core Java APIs as well as the APIs for distributed development.

APIs covered include:

• Event handling
• Collection API
• JDBC
• RMI
• CORBA

Applied Java Patterns also features a section on pattern use in systems built with J2EE and JINI technologies, and coverage of the servlet, JSP, EJB, and JavaSpaces APIs.

Without a doubt, this accessible and up-to-date guide can help you enhance your Java platform programming skills.

About the Author

STEPHEN STELTING is an instructor for Sun Microsystems specializing in Java technology and object-oriented programming. For over a decade, he has worked in software development, consulting, and technical training. He currently develops new course content and teaches a wide variety of introductory and advanced courses.

OLAV MAASSEN is a courseware developer for Sun Educational Services and a Master Instructor for Sun Ed in the Netherlands. He is a certified Java Developer as well as an Enterprise Architect.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (January 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130935387
• ISBN-13: 978-0130935380
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,308,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Think twice about adding this to your cart!, February 26, 2002

By 

Jeff Damukaitis (McKinney, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Applied Java Patterns (Paperback)

I purchased this book with the intent of broadening my knowledge of patterns after reading the GOF book (about 3 times), the Mark Grand series and Java Design Patterns [Cooper].

In one of his first examples Abstract Factory, a structure diagram is presented in canonical form; i.e. class a, class b, class c.... This didn't bother me except that his example code was a bit trivial and was not presented in terms of the structure diagrams. OK, I can read and figure things out, but if you are going to present the diagram and working examples, at least put the example code into the presented structure diagram, fair enough?

The next pattern that really bothered me was his implementation of Factory Method. He once again presents a generic structure diagram and does not present his own code in the same format.
The reason is that his sample code does not fit into the diagrams presented. This to me is a red flag! He does however provide explanations behind his implementation of the pattern. In the case of Factory Method his Contact class is both a concrete creator and concrete product. This I initially found confusing! I had to turn to the back of the book to figure out what he was trying to accomplish.

So in short several pattern start with a structure diagram and example code that doesn't fit into the presented diagram. I would remove the generic structure diagrams and provide ones in context of the examples. Make my job, as a reader, simple! Unless you have a way of reverse engineering the code, you're stuck with pen and paper.

I believe I have griped enough, here are some reasons to buy the book. He does present some nice explanations of the patterns, they are implemented in Java and it will help broaden your knowledge of design patterns.

Would this book be my first choice if I were shopping a design patterns book for Java? Answer: NO! There is a new book coming out "Design Patterns Java Workbook" by Steve Metsker that I have previewed. In my very humble opinion, the author has a much better understanding of design patterns and the examples are in the context of an entire application; which is actually very amusing to follow. In contrast, all of the examples are presented with precise UML diagrams in terms of the code snippets provided.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Java programmers who need patterns, look no further, February 28, 2002

By 

Michael Ernest "JavaRanch Sheriff" (Corte Madera, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Applied Java Patterns (Paperback)

A number of my instructor colleagues have commented for years that someone should write a Java patterns book. None of us took up that challenge, obviously. Stephen and Olav did; their book finally brings to new and intermediate programmers a gentle but stimulating introduction to the subject. If your programs compile and run, but you have a feeling there are better, more sophisticated ways to compose Java, you're right: read this book and find out about them.

The patterns catalog in this book walks through the feature development of a Personal Information Management (PIM) program. Patterns are used to impose a general problem domain to each feature described (e.g., conference scheduling). The authors then show how the classic pattern might be modelled and implemented in Java. If you've never gone from a problem statement to a language-neutral design solution to code-writing before, this process can be slow going the first few times. The authors address this by separating features so you don't have to read the catalog in order.

There's no CD-ROM, so the source code is printed in full in the back of the book. Bad publisher, no biscuit. Just give me the CD, alright? Yes you can download the code by ftp, but my network life is controlled by firewall [people]. I need an HTTP tunnel, please.

I take the complaints that professional methodologists will have with this book with a grain of salt. This book was not written for their review and consensus; it's written for people who want to learn this subject and who allow the view that methodology is an art, not science and certainly not rooted in absolutes. That said, you may some day disagree with a design interpretation or two in this book, but you'll see them nonetheless applied thoughtfully to practical examples.

Another nice touch: the authors point out several examples in the JDK where these patterns have been applied, so if you want pointers to real-world examples using 'production' source code, there's no better place to look than the JDK. It's some of the most intensely scrutinized code ever.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many typos and mistakes, March 10, 2002

By 

Volker Kraska "volkerkraska" (Hannover) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Applied Java Patterns (Paperback)

Though this book covers all relevant patterns, it also includes lots of typos and mistakes which makes it hard and annyoing to read: The full code examples at the end of the book are incomplete; source code of some examples is missing there, but instead others is printed twice. The UML diagrams are incomplete or even wrong. The code presented to each pattern does party not fit to the UML diagrams. So if this would be the first book about patterns I would suggest NOT to buy it!