Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design [Paperback]

Alan Shalloway (Author), James Trott (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201715945 | ISBN-13: 978-0201715941 | Publication Date: July 9, 2001 | Edition: 1st

Design patterns offer proven opportunities for creating flexible, reusable software -- but until now, their complexity has prevented most software professionals from taking full advantage of them. Now, there's a simple, gentle introduction to patterns that helps software practitioners gain the benefits -- without the confusion. Unlike many books on patterns, Design Patterns Explained doesn't assume that its readers already have an in-depth understanding of object-oriented design. Rather, it teaches object-oriented design and patterns together, helping developers gain deeper insights into both topics far more quickly. Shalloway and Trott don't just introduce a laundry list of patterns: they explain why each pattern works, the organizing principles upon which the pattern is based, and above all, how the patterns work together in real world object-oriented designs. For all software developers, programmers, architects, and project managers who want to succeed with patterns.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"...I would expect that readers with a basic understanding of object-oriented programming and design would find this book useful, before approaching design patterns completely. Design Patterns Explained complements the existing design patterns texts and may perform a very useful role, fitting between introductory texts such as UML Distilled and the more advanced patterns books."

--James Noble

Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design draws together the principles of object-oriented programming with the power of design patterns to create an environment for robust and reliable software development. Packed with practical and applicable examples, this book teaches you to solve common programming problems with patterns--and explains the advantages of patterns for modern software design.

Beginning with a complete overview of the fundamentals of patterns, Design Patterns Explained stresses the importance of analysis and design. The authors clearly demonstrate how patterns can facilitate the overall development process. Throughout the book, key object-oriented design principles are explained, along with the concepts and benefits behind specific patterns. With illustrative examples in C++ and Java, the book demystifies the "whys," "why nots," and "hows" of patterns and explains pattern implementation.

Key topics covered include:

• New perspectives on objects, encapsulation, and inheritance
• The idea of design patterns, their origins, and how they apply in the discipline of software design
• Pattern-based, object-oriented software development using the Unified Modeling Language (UML)
• How to implement critical patterns--Strategy, Observer, Bridge, Decorator, and many more
• Commonality/Variability Analysis and design patterns, and how they aid in understanding abstract classes

From analysis to implementation, Design Patterns Explained allows you to unleash the true potential of patterns and paves the path for improving your overall designs. This book provides newcomers with a genuinely accurate and helpful introduction to object-oriented design patterns.

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About the Author

Alan Shalloway is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant of Net Objectives, an object-oriented consulting/training organization. He has a master's degree in computer science from MIT, over thirty years of experience in software development, and several years of experience in mentoring and training. He spends much of his time offering courses in design patterns, OOA, OOD, and lightweight methodologies, and building advanced software for both his own company and his clients.

James R. Trott is a senior consultant for a large software company in the Pacific Northwest and formerly was a senior engineer for a large aerospace company. He holds a master of science in applied mathematics, an MBA, and a master of arts in intercultural studies. He has spent seventeen years in the field of artificial intelligence, knowledge modeling, and knowledge management and is an expert in using cognitive design patterns and the KADS methodology.

0201715945AB06142001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (July 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201715945
• ISBN-13: 978-0201715941
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Shalloway is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant of Net Objectives, an object-oriented consulting/training organization. He has a master's degree in computer science from MIT, over thirty years of experience in software development, and several years of experience in mentoring and training. He spends much of his time offering courses in design patterns, OOA, OOD, and lightweight methodologies, and building advanced software for both his own company and his clients.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars learn OO in 'design patter' way, December 7, 2001

By 

Yu H. Chou (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (Paperback)

There are 2 ways of learning new concepts and principles:
1. learn principles first, then try to use them
2. observe good implementations first, then learn to appreciate the principles behind them

The authors successfully convince me that the 2nd way is the better way of learning a paradigm like OO. The authors first give us a little principles (Chapter 1), and then intorduce to us the good designs one by one (Part III, IV, V). While explaining these good design solutions (design patterns), authors didn't forget to stop and show us what we have been through, and the principles we can draw from our experience.

This is really a joyful and mind-shifting reading.

This book is not trying to teach you everything about design pattern and OO. But it lays a very sold foundation in your brain, and force you to think in a new perspective.

Of course, you should read GoF after or along with reading this one.

Also recommend:
Craig Larman: Applying UML and Design Pattern (this book puts the things you learned into real developement process)

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explained thoroughly and concretely, June 1, 2002

By 

Michael Wade "MichaelBeachBum" (Laguna Niguel, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (Paperback)

I have read the Gang of Four book, which I highly respect and view as a kind of Bible for Patterns. The analogy is apt in that you don't read the Bible once, expecting to "get it" the first time through. You need to read, re-read, read commentaries and explainations. And even so, I found the patterns nebulous. Don't get me wrong! The G of Four book is a must have. But this is the first book that took me from the beginning to the end, explaining in concrete examples that I could understand. One of the key points is applying Patterns to the entire software process, not just design, AND MOREOVER, using many Patterns in the solution of software problems.

I also really enjoyed the writing style. Someone else has complained that it is written in first person even though there is more than one author. Personally, I don't care how many authors are involved, I want results. And the first person choice brought me into the inner circle, where someone was explaining things directly to me. It is a great read, with an almost ideal style of writing for my personality. They break out bulleted lists (another complaint from someone) that gives me the highlights of what we are going to cover. I cannot explain what a great difference that made. One great lecturer from JPL said when giving a lexture: "Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you told them." A brilliant speaker, this methodology lends itself to writing I think as much as speaking. Design Patterns I have read and done my best to understand, but this book breaks them down into easy to understand, and more importantly, cases where they can apply in simple language.

Possibly most importantly, they describe how learning patterns can be used together with learning OO. I have been doing OO design for many, many years. I read the GofFour, but it was soooo dry, and although I tried hard to put them into practice in my software, I was always disappointed with the results. It felt that the Patterns were tacked on to handle some specific portion of the software. This book, OTOH, addresses the issue of teaching OOD and Patterns at the same time. Even though I considered myself a "good" OO person, I found that after reading this book the Patterns began to fit together with my designs. Wonderful!

All this may not mean much to you, but if you are interested in Patterns, the Gang of Four, then please do yourself a favor and buy this book. Not only will you not regret it, it will [pull] you in and teach you in ways you never thought possible. Go for it, you will have no regrets. I have read many, many, many, software books, and this one just shines.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Introduction to Design Patterns, August 9, 2001

By 

Christopher J. Falter "Christopher J." (Summerville, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (Paperback)

This sparkling little introduction to design patterns is clear, well-organized, and supplied with sufficient sample code to help you understand and use 14 of the most important design patterns. Best of all, the authors provide insight into how using design patterns meshes with best practices in object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD).

They explain the shortcomings of traditional OOAD by supplying an example of a brittle, overly complex design that they themselves had crafted. They identify the culprit as overreliance on specialization.

The authors then discuss 14 of the most important patterns from the Gang Of Four book, and how using them made their own design more elegant. Along the way, they elucidate several themes you need to know in order to use design patterns:

* Encapsulation can hide more than data. It can hide complexity (the Facade pattern) or an ill-suited interface (the Adapter pattern), for example.

* Find what is common and make it an interface; find what varies, and encapsulate it.

* Don't get lost by plunging into the details of implementation too early; instead, use design patterns to address your problem space at a conceptual level.

As suits an introductory work, the authors do not deal with all the design patterns from the Gang Of Four, and not with the same depth. Fortunately, they supply ample footnotes to provide further reading for those of us who want more depth.

Bottom Line: You know that if you just turn nouns in your problem space into objects and verbs into methods, you won't magically get a sound design. On the other hand, it is easy to get lost in the complexity of Gamma's classic. Resolve the dilemma by reading this book first!

Footnote: as I feel that the vast majority of potential readers will not have the opportunity to attend Shalloway's 2-day course, I will not use the fact that it duplicates much of the book's content as a reason to lower my rating. It's a 5-star work all the way.