The Object Primer: The Application Developer's Guide to Object-Orientation (SIGS: Managing Object Technology) [Paperback]

Scott W. Ambler (Author)

Book Description

Series: SIGS: Managing Object Technology | Publication Date: January 13, 1998

The Object Primer is the ultimate introductory text on object-oriented (OO) technology. By reading this book, you'll gain a solid understanding of object-oriented concepts and object-oriented analysis techniques. Written by a developer for developers, this book will introduce you to object-oriented design in the context of class modeling. It begins with a description of why developers and their organizations want to take advantage of the object-oriented approach, then moves to issues like CRC cards, use cases, and class modeling. It puts the entire OO development process into perspective, presenting both the serial and iterative development strategies. It includes easy-to-follow notations and provides 'cheat-sheets' references for easy accessibility to commonly used information. It includes a complete glossary of terms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Overall an introduction to OO software in structured steps written in a teachign style, easy to read for a novice.' CVu --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

The Object Primer is the ultimate introductory text on object-oriented (OO) technology. It lays out object-oriented concepts and object-oriented analysis techniques. It begins with a description of why developers and their organizations want to take advantage of the object-oriented approach, then moves to issues like CRC cards, use cases, and class modeling.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (January 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132424967
• ISBN-13: 978-0132424967
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,640,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarifying the "What, When, Why and How" of OO Development, August 15, 2001

By 

T. L. Goodman (Santa Ana, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Object Primer: The Application Developer's Guide to Object Orientation and the UML (Paperback)

I probably purchased somewhere upwards of twenty books on the topics of the UML and object-oriented development before buying The Object Primer, 2nd Edition. Yeah, it probably would have been nice to have read this one first, but on the other hand, it may have been just the right book at the right time in terms of my learning process. As a result of my previous efforts, I was getting overwhelmed and confused by the sheer volume of concepts, notations, diagrams, development processes, and tools associated with becoming proficient with UML modeling and object-oriented development. While I had learned lots of important terminology and techniques from the previous books, I found The Object Primer to be enormously practical and useful in terms of putting it all together and breaking through to a working level of proficiency.

Among the aspects of the book that I appreciated are it's easy-to-read style, effective use of diagrams and visual examples, and the "techniques" sections with clear directives about what to do, and what not to do, in specific areas. I was able to use the technique lists in somewhat of a cookbook style as I applied what I was learning to some of my own work.

So far, in my growing library of OO development books, this one provides the "biggest bang for the buck".

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally someone has put it all together, June 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Object Primer: The Application Developer's Guide to Object Orientation and the UML (Paperback)

This new edition of the book was well worth the wait. Finally someone has put it all together and described how to develop software using object-oriented technologies. Ambler covers development from requirements all the way through testing. Although the book does an excellent job explaining the UML, IMHO focusing on the 20% of the UML that you would actually use in practice, he supplements the UML with other techniques such as business rules, CRC cards, essential user interface prototypes, UI flow diagrams, and physical data models which he calls persistence models for some strange reason. He also goes a bit into system integration issues with external interface models, a topic that I rarely see covered in all the other OO books out there.

A huge strength of the book is that it shows how to go from OO design to actual code, giving a brief but good overview of how to implement your design in Java and in a relational database. Ambler describes important implementation issues such as how to map your objects into relational databases, how to write clean code, how to write good internal documentation, and how to design your user interface cleanly. Frankly, I don't know of any books other than this one that actually deals with real-world issues like this, and I really wish he had written this book years ago.

The testing chapter was solid but brief, summarizing material in his process patterns books, the 10th chapter very briefly overviewed technologies such as the RUP, EJB, and XP, and the final chapter provided career advice for success in the object industry. I would suggest this book for anyone new to object development, particularly people getting into Java or C++ for the first time, or even modelers or project managers than simply need to get up to speed on the UML.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This guy is good! The OO comes before the UML., April 12, 2002

By 

David Gurgel (Roseland, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Object Primer: The Application Developer's Guide to Object Orientation and the UML (Paperback)

OO came first and then came UML to model it! This book is all about the principles of object-oriented requirements, analysis, and design first and secondly about the UML tools for modeling these steps in project development. That's as it should be since OO is the thing most to be admired, and UML is (just) a popular and very useful language for modeling OO development. Too many UML books are so intent on UML that the fundamentals of OO are ignored. The first edition of this book was published in 1995 just before UML was born. Its author, Scott Ambler, is a prolific and renowned writer and developer.

The book has many detailed UML diagrams and is clearly written in a pleasant, professional style. The book is not about implementation. Look elsewhere for sample code, including some of Ambler's fine other publications.

Don't be lislead by the word "Primer" in the title. It's for the serious reader and would make a good text, but for a junior or senior level CS course. If you are a professional and could have just two references in your library for your first OO project, this 523-page book together with a good programming reference (Java, C++, C#, or VB.NET) would be a good choice.