Best Design Pattern books

[Harsh Ravindra Gupta]

Hi Guys,

I am starting on design patterns. Please guide to the best available
books on J2EE design patterns in particular and other design patterns in general.

Thanks and Regards

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Okay, there is one book that really started it all, and you have to have it:

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides (The Gang of Four - GOF)

One problem with this book, I found, was that it was language agnostic. If the examples were in Java, I could understand it more, but they weren't, and I found that frustrating.

The GOF book is over 10 years old. Here's a book that is Java based, on Design Patterns, that is less that 1 year old. I'd suggest picking this up to:

Design Patterns in Java (Software Patterns Series) by Steven John Metsker, William C. Wake

This is also a good, Java based tutorial on Deisgn Patterns. It's a bit long in the tooth, but design patterns really don't change over time:

Java Design Patterns: A Tutorial by James W. Cooper

While you're at it, I would highly, highly, highly recommend a book on Refactoring code as well. Design Patterns and Refactoring really go hand in hand. The Refactoring book is a must have on any Java bookshelf, and it's an easy read as well:

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, William Opdyke, Don Roberts


Cheers!

-Cameron McKenzie
[ January 11, 2007: Message edited by: Bear Bibeault ]

[Ilja Preuss]

If you are new to design patterns, I would ignore the J2EE patterns for a start.

Another problem with the GoF book (the first Cameron mentions) is that it is very dry.

I have also heard very good things about "Head First Design Patterns". Make sure to take a look at it before you invest your money, to see if you like the style.

Also take a look at http://www.industriallogic.com/papers/learning.html

I second the recommendation for "Refactoring" - after I read that, I had a much better understanding of how the patterns help.

Another good book on design in general is "Agile Software Development - Principles, Patterns and Practices".

[Stan James]

For grins, see Grady Booch's Pattern Catalog. But then go back to the books recommended above.

[ismail hassani]

I think it's a good idea to start learning patterns with reading the patterns bible The GoF,it' seems by starting a little difficult and dry but you gain a deep understanding of patterns.

I think also it's a good idea to read that book together with another person to discuss frequently.
[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: ismail hassani ]

[Jan Cumps]

Originally posted by Harsh Ravindra Gupta:

J2EE design patterns in particular

Sun's Java blueprints/ describe patterns for enterprise java.

It's a book and lots of on-line resources. The PDF version of the book is available via above link.

Regards, Jan

[Hung Tang]

My personal favorite is
Agile Software Development by Robert Martin.
[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: Hung Tang ]

[Ilja Preuss]

Another good book on enterprise patterns is "Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture", by Martin Fowler if I remember correctly.

It's a little bit more generic than J2EE patterns and has examples in Java and a few in C#.

[Jeevan Philip]

One onf the most readable book for starters is HFDP

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfdesignpat/

Though some OO purists may not fsvor some of the examples in the book !

[Stan James]

Google for "THinking in Patterns". It's by Bruce Eckell who did "Thinking in Java". I think it's free online at his site. It covers GoF with Java examples, but at a quick glance I didn't think it added much more.

[Pj Murray]

Check this out:

http://www.corej2eepatterns.com/

[Bert Bates]

I'd recommend that you wait to tackle the J2EE patterns until after you're comfortable with the basics of the GoF patterns. The J2EE patterns are largely built on the GoF patterns.