Object-Oriented Design Books

Effective Java (2nd Edition) (Java Series)

Joshua Bloch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Raves for the First Edition!

“I sure wish I had this book ten years ago. Some might think that I don’t need any Java books, but I need this one.”

–James Gosling, fellow and vice president, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

“An excellent book, crammed with good advice on using the Java programming language and object-oriented programming in general.”

–Gilad Bracha, coauthor of The Java™ Language Specification, Third Edition

“10/10–anyone aspiring to write good Java code that others will appreciate reading and maintaining should be required to own a copy of this book. This is one of those rare books where the information won’t become obsolete with subsequent releases of the JDK library.”
–Peter Tran, bartender, JavaRanch.com

“The best Java book yet written.... Really great; very readable and eminently useful. I can’t say enough good things about this book. At JavaOne 2001, James Gosling said, ‘Go buy this book!’ I’m glad I did, and I couldn’t agree more.”
–Keith Edwards, senior member of research staff, Computer Science Lab at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and author of Core JINI (Prentice Hall, 2000)

“This is a truly excellent book done by the guy who designed several of the better recent Java platform APIs (including the Collections API).”
–James Clark, technical lead of the XML Working Group during the creation of the XML 1.0 Recommendation, editor of the XPath and XSLT Recommendations

“Great content. Analogous to Scott Meyers’ classic Effective C++. If you know the basics of Java, this has to be your next book.”
–Gary K. Evans, OO mentor and consultant, Evanetics, Inc

“Josh Bloch gives great insight into best practices that really can only be discovered after years of study and experience.”
–Mark Mascolino, software engineer

“This is a superb book. It clearly covers many of the language/platform subtleties and trickery you need to learn to become a real Java master.”
–Victor Wiewiorowski, vice president development and code quality manager, ValueCommerce Co., Tokyo, Japan

“I like books that under-promise in their titles and over-deliver in their contents. This book has 57 items of programming advice that are well chosen. Each item reveals a clear, deep grasp of the language. Each one illustrates in simple, practical terms the limits of programming on intuition alone, or taking the most direct path to a solution without fully understanding what the language offers.”

–Michael Ernest, Inkling Research, Inc.

“I don’t find many programming books that make me want to read every page–this is one of them.”
–Matt Tucker, chief technical officer, Jive Software

“Great how-to resource for the experienced developer.”
–John Zukowski, author of numerous Java technology books

“I picked this book up two weeks ago and can safely say I learned more about the Java language in three days of reading than I did in three months of study! An excellent book and a welcome addition to my Java library.”
–Jane Griscti, I/T advisory specialist

Are you looking for a deeper understanding of the Java™ programming language so that you can write code that is clearer, more correct, more robust, and more reusable? Look no further! Effective Java™, Second Edition, brings together seventy-eight indispensable programmer’s rules of thumb: working, best-practice solutions for the programming challenges you encounter every day.

This highly anticipated new edition of the classic, Jolt Award-winning work has been thoroughly updated to cover Java SE 5 and Java SE 6 features introduced since the first edition. Bloch explores new design patterns and language idioms, showing you how to make the most of features ranging from generics to enums, annotations to autoboxing.

Each chapter in the book consists of several “items” presented in the form of a short, standalone essay that provides specific advice, insight into Java platform subtleties, and outstanding code examples. The comprehensive descriptions and explanations for each item illuminate what to do, what not to do, and why.

Highlights include:

• New coverage of generics, enums, annotations, autoboxing, the for-each loop, varargs, concurrency utilities, and much more
• Updated techniques and best practices on classic topics, including objects, classes, libraries, methods, and serialization
• How to avoid the traps and pitfalls of commonly misunderstood subtleties of the language
• Focus on the language and its most fundamental libraries: java.lang, java.util, and, to a lesser extent, java.util.concurrent and java.io

Simply put, Effective Java™, Second Edition, presents the most practical, authoritative guidelines available for writing efficient, well-designed programs.

Head First Design Patterns (Head First)

Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 243 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

You're not alone.

At any given moment, somewhere in the world someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. You know you don't want to reinvent the wheel (or worse, a flat tire), so you look to Design Patterns--the lessons learned by those who've faced the same problems. With Design Patterns, you get to take advantage of the best practices and experience of others, so that you can spend your time on...something else. Something more challenging. Something more complex. Something more fun.

You want to learn about the patterns that matter--why to use them, when to use them, how to use them (and when NOT to use them). But you don't just want to see how patterns look in a book, you want to know how they look "in the wild". In their native environment. In other words, in real world applications. You also want to learn how patterns are used in the Java API, and how to exploit Java's built-in pattern support in your own code.

You want to learn the real OO design principles and why everything your boss told you about inheritance might be wrong (and what to do instead). You want to learn how those principles will help the next time you're up a creek without a design pattern.

Most importantly, you want to learn the "secret language" of Design Patterns so that you can hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions his stunningly clever use of Command, Facade, Proxy, and Factory in between sips of a martini. You'll easily counter with your deep understanding of why Singleton isn't as simple as it sounds, how the Factory is so often misunderstood, or on the real relationship between Decorator, Facade and Adapter.

With Head First Design Patterns, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking Decorator is something from the "Trading Spaces" show. Best of all, in a way that won't put you to sleep! We think your time is too important (and too short) to spend it struggling with academic texts.

If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect--a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First Design Patterns will load patterns into your brain in a way that sticks. In a way that lets you put them to work immediately. In a way that makes you better at solving software design problems, and better at speaking the language of patterns with others on your team.

Head First Java, 2nd Edition

Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 210 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

It has taken four years, but with Head First Java the introductory Java book category has finally come of age. This is an excellent book, far more capable than any of the scores of Java-for-novices books that have come before it. Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates deserve rich kudos--and big sales--for developing this book's new way of teaching the Java programming language, because any reader with even a little bit of discipline will come away with true understanding of how the language works. Perhaps best of all, this is no protracted "Hello, World" introductory guide. Readers get substantial exposure to object-oriented design and implementation, serialization, neatwork programming, threads, and Remote Method Invocation (RMI).

Key to the authors' teaching style are carefully designed graphics. Rather than explain class inheritance (to cite one example) primarily with text, the authors use a series of tree diagrams that clarify the mechanism far more succinctly. The diagrams are carefully annotated with arrows and notes. Also characteristic of the unique teaching strategy is heavy reliance on exercises, in which the reader is asked to complete partial classes, write whole new code segments and do design work. Though there's little discussion of why the exercises' correct answers are what they are, it's clear that the practice work was carefully designed to reinforce the lesson at hand. If you've waited this long to give Java a try, this book is a great choice. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Java programming language for people with no Java experience, and even people with no programming experience at all. Key concepts read like a list of Java features: Object oriented design, variable type and scope, object properties and methods, inheritance and polymorphism, exceptions, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), network connectivity, Java archives (JAR files), and Remote Method Invocation (RMI).

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John M. Vlissides

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 249 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Why are people still buying this book? 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I give this book a 3 because it was great when it was written. But now, it is not a very good book to read. Most people who read it acknowledge they can't understand it. There are two excellent books on the market that should be read if you want to learn design patterns.

Head First Design Patterns (Head First) - is the best book to read on what patterns are as solutions to a problem in a context. Fun to read, useful, really wonderful *****.

However, if you want to learn what patterns really are - the thought process behind them, read Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (2nd Edition) (Software Patterns Series) *****

A related book that would also be a good read is Scott Bain's Emergent Design: The Evolutionary Nature of Professional Software Development (Net Objectives Product Development Series) *****

Let's give tribute to the acknowledged #1 classic in the modern software industry. But it is not the book to read to learn patterns anymore.

Editorial Review:

Design Patterns is a modern classic in the literature of object-oriented development, offering timeless and elegant solutions to common problems in software design. It describes patterns for managing object creation, composing objects into larger structures, and coordinating control flow between objects. The book provides numerous examples where using composition rather than inheritance can improve the reusability and flexibility of code. Note, though, that it's not a tutorial but a catalog that you can use to find an object-oriented design pattern that's appropriate for the needs of your particular application--a selection for virtuoso programmers who appreciate (or require) consistent, well-engineered object-oriented designs.

Learning Python, 3rd Edition

Mark Lutz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 121 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.

First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.

Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.

In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.

Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginner's Guide

Rich Shupe, Zevan Rosser

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Product Description
In this book, authors Rich Shupe and Zevan Rosser share the knowledge they've gained from their years as multimedia developers/designers and teachers. Learning ActionScript 3.0 gives you a solid foundation in the language of Flash and demonstrates how you can use it for practical, everyday projects. The authors do more than just give you a collection of sample scripts. Written for those of you new to ActionScript 3.0, the book describes how ActionScript and Flash work, giving you a clear look into essential topics such as logic, event handling, displaying content, migrating legacy projects to ActionScript 3.0, classes, and much more. You will learn important techniques through hands-on exercises, and then build on those skills as chapters progress. ActionScript 3.0 represents a significant change for many Flash users, and a steeper learning curve for the uninitiated. This book will help guide you through a variety of scripting scenarios. Rather than relying heavily on prior knowledge of object-oriented programming (OOP), topics are explained in focused examples that originate in the timeline, with optional companion classes for those already comfortable with their use. As chapters progress, the book introduces more and more OOP techniques, allowing you to choose which scripting approach you prefer. Learning ActionScript 3.0 reveals: New ways to harness the power and performance of AS3 Common mistakes that people make with the language Essential coverage of text, sound, video, XML, drawing with code, and more Migration issues from AS1 and AS2 to AS3 Simultaneous development of procedural and object-oriented techniques Tips that go beyond simple script collections, including how toapproach a project and which resources can help you along the way The companion web site contains material for all the exercises in the book, as well as short quizzes to make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. ActionScript 3.0 is a different animal from previous versions, and Learning ActionScript 3.0 teaches everything that web designers, GUI-based Flash developers, and those new to ActionScript need to start using the language.

Praise
"The best ActionScript book ever written."
-Lee Brimelow, Creator of The Flash Blog

Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) (Essential)

Colin Moock

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

ActionScript 3.0 is a huge upgrade to Flash's programming language. The enhancements to ActionScript's performance, feature set, ease of use, cleanliness, and sophistication are considerable. Essential ActionScript 3.0 focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, along with the Flash Player API. Essential ActionScript has become the #1 resource for the Flash and ActionScript development community, and the reason is the author, Colin Moock. Many people even refer to it simply as "The Colin Moock book." And for good reason: No one is better at turning ActionScript inside out, learning its nuances and capabilities, and then explaining everything in such an accessible way. Colin Moock is not just a talented programmer and technologist; he's also a gifted teacher. Essential ActionScript 3.0 is a radically overhauled update to Essential ActionScript 2.0. True to its roots, the book once again focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, but also adds a deep look at the centerpiece of Flash Player's new API: display programming. Enjoy hundreds of brand new pages covering exciting new language features, such as the DOM-based event architecture, E4X, and namespaces--all brimming with real-world sample code. The ActionScript 3.0 revolution is here, and Essential ActionScript 3.0's steady hand is waiting to guide you through it.

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

David Flanagan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 274 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

begginers 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I just read first few chapters of this book. Good news is that the material is expressed in an accessible manner. However if you have an interest in programming languages and trying to read this book as JavaScript language tutorial or reference things like "lambda functions" (should be "lambda expressions"), or discussions about how (in authors view) JS interreter "inserts semicolums" (it does not. whitespace is used as token separator while parsing) make it look pretty bad.

A work of art 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I feel that this book is really a work of art. Besides agreeing with the last reviewer that it is not fair to consider this as a book for beginners and then judge it against that standard, I'd say that even though it is not for beginners, it does not make unnecessary arcane references, etc. It is very readable, at least for someone who's had a little experience working with JavaScript. I'd say it is not even a requirement to know object oriented principles (except for those sections perhaps). The author has not only made intelligible so many of the quirks of JavaScript, but provides code which is easy to follow yet extremely useful.

As far as examples, while for JavaScript fans, it might have been nice that the book expanded into 2000 pages instead of almost 1000 that it is now, the author does, I feel, what is necessary to both explain and demonstrate the concepts, and most often, does so by creating VERY useful utility functions and "classes". Just for the utility functions alone, the book would be worth it, really. There are only a very few places where the author suggests to look elsewhere, and besides my not minding doing so given how the book already saved me so much time, the cited references would have taken up unnecessary space if the author were to include them (and they definitely weren't essential).

The book is not outdated! Unlike other books, most of the book is rarely tied down to code that can become outdated as browsers change (like the changeable but helpful quirksmode.org ). Of course, as a big fan of this book, I hope the author will be persuaded to keep making new editions (and make a hardcover!). If you really want to learn the language, this is THE book.

This book was no doubt an immense labor of love--you can feel the author is human, actually teaching, and is not trying to show off with terminology while he still does explain a whole lot of necessary terms, etc., comments the code well, etc. As with art (not the strange modern variety either), I am flabbergasted some people cannot appreciate its beauty. In a complex JavaScript application, I am building, I am using no less than 7 of the utility classes he provided in the book.

For those studying JavaScript in depth / reading this book, I'd recommend one supplement to the book: the informative articles at http://javascript.crockford.com/ (and no doubt that author's book too). The articles on private members and classical vs. prototypal inheritance are one area I felt for which additional examples and use of terminology was helpful, and allowed me to appreciate and understand the chapter in the book on classes more fully (and utilize the approaches in its utility classes as well).

Editorial Review:

Provides a rapid and thorough exposition of the JavaScript programming language, as well as an in-depth reference section covering each JavaScript function, object, method, and even handler. Experienced programmers will quickly find the information they need to start writing JavaScript programs.

Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design

Jenifer Tidwell

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Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Designing a good interface isn't easy. Users demand software that is well-behaved, good-looking, and easy to use. Your clients or managers demand originality and a short time to market. Your UI technology -- web applications, desktop software, even mobile devices -- may give you the tools you need, but little guidance on how to use them well.

UI designers over the years have refined the art of interface design, evolving many best practices and reusable ideas. If you learn these, and understand why the best user interfaces work so well, you too can design engaging and usable interfaces with less guesswork and more confidence.

"Designing Interfaces" captures those best practices as design patterns -- solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice that you can put to use immediately, plus a variety of examples illustrated in full color. You'll get recommendations, design alternatives, and warnings on when not to use them.

Each chapter's introduction describes key design concepts that are often misunderstood, such as affordances, visual hierarchy, navigational distance, and the use of color. These give you a deeper understanding of why the patterns work, and how to apply them with more insight.

A book can't design an interface for you -- no foolproof design process is given here -- but "Designing Interfaces" does give you concrete ideas that you can mix and recombine as you see fit. Experienced designers can use it as a sourcebook of ideas. Novice designers will find a roadmap to the world of interface and interaction design, with enough guidance to start using these patterns immediately.

Programming in Objective-C (Developer's Library)

Stephen Kochan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

iPhone Developers, Start Here! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

If you want to develop applications for the iPhone, you'll need to learn how to program in Objective-C. This is the best resource for doing that. Kochan explains each feature of the language using clear, simple examples and a straightforward and concise writing style. Even if you're a relatively new programmer, you can learn how to write Objective-C programs from this text. Unlike other references on Objective-C, Kochan does not assume you know how to program in C as a prerequisite. This is a good thing and a key pedagogical point, as the foundation for object-oriented programming is laid right from the start. Instead of having to learn how the underlying procedural C language works first, you are instead taught from the beginning to think in terms of classes, instances, and methods.

Once you have learned Objective-C from this book, you'll be ready to move on and tackle Cocoa and the frameworks that Apple provides to write iPhone applications. This book makes that task that much easier. The bottom line is that this is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn Objective-C and who needs a clear, well-written tutorial to lead the way. Only very experienced object-oriented programmers need not apply!

Editorial Review:

Programming in Objective-C is a concise, carefully written tutorial on the basics of Objective-C and object-oriented programming. The book makes no assumption about prior experience with object-oriented programming languages or with the C language (upon which Objective-C is based). And because of this, both novice and experienced programmers alike can use this book to quickly and effectively learn the fundamentals of Objective-C. Readers can also learn the concepts of object-oriented programming without having to first learn all of the intricacies of the underlying procedural language (C). This approach, combined with many small program examples and exercises at the end of each chapter, makes it ideally suited for either classroom use or self-study. Growth is expected in this language. At the January 2003 MacWorld, it was announced that there are 5 million Mac OS X users and each of their boxes ships with Objective-C built in.