Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My new favorite, September 9, 2004
This review is from: Software Architecture Design Patterns in Java (Hardcover)
Design patterns used to be the hottest topic around a couple of years ago. One of the side-effects was the "Applied Java Patterns" book which I very much liked and used to recommend to anyone looking for a "GoF" replacement using Java for code examples. Not anymore. From now on, I'm recommending Kuchana's "Software Architecture Design Patterns in Java".
Why am I so pleased with this book? What makes it any different than other design pattern books? Well, first of all the volume is huge. Kuchana's book covers all the original Gang of Four patterns plus another 20 or so patterns, including a couple of multithreading related patterns. Second, the text itself is very readable and doesn't cling too much on fancy words. The explanations are concise and to the point. Further kudos goes to dealing with such frequently asked questions like the difference between Factory Method and Abstract Factory.
To list some things I didn't like about this book, I have to say that having exercises without sample answers in the back was a tiny disappointment and I would've preferred a bit more condensed font for the code listings. That's about it.
All in all, a very good choice for filling the gaping design patterns encyclopedia slot in your bookshelf. Highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed - Light on patterns, January 31, 2006
This review is from: Software Architecture Design Patterns in Java (Hardcover)
I purchased this book hoping to brush up on my design pattern skills for a new job I had just accepted. I purchased this book on the recommendations of other Amazon.com readers, but I have to say that I am pretty disappointed in the text. The book covers the 23 GoF patterns plus an additional 19 patterns.
I struggled with this text on a couple of different levels. First, some of the patterns presented aren't really patterns at all. There is a "pattern" called Accessor Methods, but this isn't anything more than good coding practices. The same could be said of Constant Data Manager (btw - I disagree with the author's solution of mashing together unrelated constants into a single location).
But my real problem with this book is the presentation of the patterns themselves. GoF presents patterns in a canonical form that is widely embraced by the pattern community. This book chooses not to present the pattern in much of a form. Instead, each pattern is given a short introduction (1 page most of the time) followed by one or more examples (8, 9 or 10 pages). There is no high-level goal (motivation) of the pattern stated. The benefits of the pattern are never identified. Nor are the drawbacks (consequences). The structure of the pattern is never clearly identified.
This book relies on the examples explaining the patterns, but I don't think that the intent behind each pattern is explained any where near well enough. This book would be good for a person that wants to see decent (but not great) implementations design patterns. I don't think this book is good for learning the concepts behind the different design patterns and gaining the understanding knowing when to use one pattern over another.
If you want to see some implementations of patterns then maybe consider this book. If you want to learn/study about patterns this isn't the right book.
For me it is back to GoF. I have heard good things about the Head Start Design Pattern book. Maybe I will check this out. But I severely doubt I will be referencing (or keeping) this book much in the future.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Read GoF instead., January 21, 2006
This review is from: Software Architecture Design Patterns in Java (Hardcover)
I was not impressed with Software Architecture Design Patterns in Java. I've been programming professionally for about five years, and have previously read Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides ("GoF"). Currently Java is the language I am most fluent in. What I hoped to get out of this book was:
* A deeper understanding of the GoF patterns and how Java facilitates their implementation.
* Useful new patterns that reflect how the software world has changed since the GoF book was published.
* An extra bonus would have been some insight into how Java itself uses the patterns.
This book failed to deliver on all counts. The example code is all in Java but there is no discussion of how Java affects the use of the pattern. (Languages do affect pattern use; e.g. Peter Norvig has argued that most of the GoF patterns are not needed in dynamic functional languages like Lisp.)
The examples are highly contrived and pages and pages of simple beans with getters and setters obstruct following the higher level arguments. In fact, Partha Kuchana at times left me sufficiently confused that I had to refer back to the GoF to understand how a particular pattern differed from another or what a patterns purpose was.
The additional patterns presented here are not terribly useful -- often they're so obvious you wonder what alternative could possibly be used instead. A nice reminder than quantity is not the same as quality.
I would recommend reading the GoF book (which is highly regarded, still highly relevant, and for the most part approachable and understandable) instead. If you strongly prefer a Java-oriented book there are many other highly rated ones to choose from.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
