Customer Reviews
Not just for JAVA - By: William Duffy, 12 Jun 2008 
I am an ASP.NET developer & write in VB & C#. If you program in any OO language the fact that this book is written in Java will not be a problem in the slightest.
This book impressed me by the way it took you through implementations of the design patterns in order to help break the learning curve down into more manageable segments. After reading each chapter I knew exactly how the pattern was applied & understood it fully.
Something that was a real eye opener for me was that from reading this book I could see that design patterns exist EVERYWHERE in the .NET framework. User controls implements the composite pattern, the whole event driven model is based around the observer pattern & I don't know how many times I've been unknowingly using the template pattern!
There reallly shouldn't be any reason an OO programmer doesn't read this book (even if they are already clued up on their design patterns). It's an easy, fun & enlightening read.
A really enjoyable read - By: James P. Taylor, 13 May 2008 This has got to be the most enjoyable programming book I have ever read. Every spare minute I have is spent wanting to see what happens next. I have only ever felt this with novels before.
As to the content, I could relate many of the design patterns shown to what I have done or seen in the past, but they also show reasoning & extra detail & insight than what I have noticed myself.
A great read, I'm learning lots. I'm interested to see what the other Head First books are like now.
Very clear - By: Mr. Iain Wrench, 27 Mar 2008 Excellent book - very clear in putting the concepts across. Graduallly builds towards understanding. Some repetition - but it works by re-enforcing the concepts. It's not often I read a technical book cover-to-cover.
from fog to crystal - By: Shane Hurley, 16 Jan 2008 no pretentious use of jargon
clear & precise clarifications of OO as well as of patterns.
Best book on my bookshelf - By: Mr. R. A. Bradwell, 10 Nov 2007 If you want a reference manual, a pattern catalogue, that you refer to once you are an expert in the field then the GoF book is the one. If you want to LEARN a number of the most common design patterns then this is the ONLY book to start with. This is the best software development text I have on my shelf. Being a J2EE developer for a large bank I tend to have a lot :).
I remember first looking at the format of these books & thinking great, more books full of fluff, dumbing down for the ipod generation. It's not the right format for a reference manual but it seems effective to get a first grasp on the material. Books written in a more abstract, formal manner cause cognitive overload & resulting in an inability to read a large portion of the book without the brain totallly freezing. This book is compelling from start to end & can be read in a weekend without frying your brain.
It's pretty amazing that for a book that, at first glance, seems to be full of frivolous items not necessarily related to the content it delivers a lot of information very concisely. It's the gift of a telented teacher to delivery knowledge in a consise manner & shows how deeply they understand there subject.
Having just finished the book over the weekend I felt compelled to come to amazon in the early hours of the morning to write this review because it's a superb book & I'd certainly like to see the authors rewarded for their efforts.
