Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Addison-Wesley Professional (1994), Edition: 1, 395 pages
Description
Four software designers present a catalog of simple and succinct solutions to commonly occurring design problems, using Smalltalk and C++ in example code. These 23 patterns allow designers to create more flexible, elegant, and ultimately reusable designs without having to rediscover the design solutions themselves. The authors begin by describing what patterns are and how they can help you design object-oriented software. They go on to systematically name, explain, evaluate, and catalog recurring designs in object-oriented systems.--From publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member aethercowboy
If there were required reading mandated for any degree involving computer software development, this would be it.
Gamma, et al (AKA The Gang of Four) have given us a comprehensive guide to various software patterns, and it's the least we could do to follow them.
It discourages me to see and hear
Well, the short answer is that you should be able to do these things, using interfacing, one of the fundamental patterns in this book. Just as the user (usually) doesn't care what's going on behind the curtain with their software applications, as long as they get the right feedback when the click the right buttons, the client-side application shouldn't care about what's going on in the server-side, as long as it gets the right feedback from the server when it sends it the right data. When you hear things like this for the first time, it's kind of eye-opening, but at the same time, when you think about it for a minute, it really makes sense. It's like when you're playing a puzzler game, and you need a hint about how to solve a puzzle; once you see the solution, you smack your head. "That's makes so much sense!" you say, "Why didn't I think of that." Well, consider this book the solution guide to software design.
No, it's not a recipe book (like the O'Reilly Cookbook series), but it does provide examples of the patterns you should be using, and unless you describe your coding style as "anarchist," it should really help you.
If you're a software engineer and get your hands dirty by mucking with software, and you haven't yet read this book, then take off those coding gloves and give yourself about a week to absorb the amazing knowledge this book presents. If you want to go into software engineering, ensure that you have a firm grasp of a particular programming language, and then read this book, preferably before you start interviewing for a job. Then, in your interview, when asked a technical question, you can start off your answer by saying, "Well, The Gang of Four said in their book on design patterns..." And then, you're working in some software engineering field (results may vary).
If you're truly devoted to making yourself a better software engineer, though, you simply must read this book.
Gamma, et al (AKA The Gang of Four) have given us a comprehensive guide to various software patterns, and it's the least we could do to follow them.
It discourages me to see and hear
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about professional industries making lousy software that can't communicate with other tools, even those made by the same vendor. It bothers me when there are tools out there that make use of a network connection, but apparently don't play nicely with people using other operating systems or even other interfaces. Why can't I play Scrabble on my iPhone with someone using Facebook's Scrabble app? Why can't I play a co-op game of LittleBigPlanet on my PSP with another user playing on a PS3?Well, the short answer is that you should be able to do these things, using interfacing, one of the fundamental patterns in this book. Just as the user (usually) doesn't care what's going on behind the curtain with their software applications, as long as they get the right feedback when the click the right buttons, the client-side application shouldn't care about what's going on in the server-side, as long as it gets the right feedback from the server when it sends it the right data. When you hear things like this for the first time, it's kind of eye-opening, but at the same time, when you think about it for a minute, it really makes sense. It's like when you're playing a puzzler game, and you need a hint about how to solve a puzzle; once you see the solution, you smack your head. "That's makes so much sense!" you say, "Why didn't I think of that." Well, consider this book the solution guide to software design.
No, it's not a recipe book (like the O'Reilly Cookbook series), but it does provide examples of the patterns you should be using, and unless you describe your coding style as "anarchist," it should really help you.
If you're a software engineer and get your hands dirty by mucking with software, and you haven't yet read this book, then take off those coding gloves and give yourself about a week to absorb the amazing knowledge this book presents. If you want to go into software engineering, ensure that you have a firm grasp of a particular programming language, and then read this book, preferably before you start interviewing for a job. Then, in your interview, when asked a technical question, you can start off your answer by saying, "Well, The Gang of Four said in their book on design patterns..." And then, you're working in some software engineering field (results may vary).
If you're truly devoted to making yourself a better software engineer, though, you simply must read this book.
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LibraryThing member euang
A classic for OOP - not much else to say: You've got to read it, if only to say you read it :-) True, the book is C++ focused (it will be somewhat tough for those who only know Java / C#) and it has quite a level of sophistication (probably aimed at those in a Computer Science degree or master's
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programs). But, that said, it really started a big part of the revolution in OO - open source gave us reusable code, design patterns gave us reusable solutions to design problems; and this was the book that really "lit the fire" for patterns. Show Less
LibraryThing member tongqg
The famous book to have a deep explaination to design patterns
LibraryThing member lorin
Design patterns are getting a lot of attention from both practitioners and researchers these days. This is the book that started it all off. Design patterns are solutions to commonly occurring problems in software development. This book is often referred to as GoF, which stands for "Gang of Four",
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a reference to the four authors. Show Less
LibraryThing member nillacat
Blech. Rubbish. Compensating for the weaknesses in OO in general and C++ in particular. OO is a nice way to think about some kinds of programming problems, but not all. Patterns are attempts to make OO fit where it doesn't fit naturally. And, in particular, they compensate for C++'s foolish lack of
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automatic memory management. Show Less
LibraryThing member Pattern-chaser
The software-patterns bible. If you know what patterns are, you should already have read it.
LibraryThing member billmcn
Perhaps more referenced than read...that's certainly the case for me. I've never tried to implement one of these things, but every once and a while I skim the patterns and it's useful to have the ideas filed away.
LibraryThing member ztutz
Category theory lite for computer programmers.
This book seemed profound when it came out, but has not panned out as a religion. As an isolated analysis technique, it is a great thing; trying to take it further is questionable.
This book seemed profound when it came out, but has not panned out as a religion. As an isolated analysis technique, it is a great thing; trying to take it further is questionable.
LibraryThing member benfulton
This book was really a game-changer. The art of creating a computer program had not been analyzed much at all up until that point - plenty of algorithms had been created by computer scientists, and systems designers had some ideas about API's, but there wasn't a whole lot of direction for people
Is it worth reading today? That's a little tougher. There's no question to my mind that every developer should be familiar with the patterns in this book, but a more modern book on the same topic would probably display source code in a language that more people would more commonly be using. Still, there's no question that if you want to go back to the basics, you go back to Gamma.
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who wanted to engineer applications to do things that user wanted them to do. Some of the patterns in the book are in common use today; others have been relegated to the dustbin; but the larger point is that after this book came out, people started using a whole new language to describe the work they were doing. Today we have UI patterns, management patterns, data access patterns, antipatterns, patterns, patterns, patterns everywhere, and this was the book that really caused the concept to take off.Is it worth reading today? That's a little tougher. There's no question to my mind that every developer should be familiar with the patterns in this book, but a more modern book on the same topic would probably display source code in a language that more people would more commonly be using. Still, there's no question that if you want to go back to the basics, you go back to Gamma.
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LibraryThing member twistedmind
The classic book on design patterns in object oriented software design. There are newer books on the subject, but most are based on the original.
LibraryThing member Kenoubi
It held my interest, but I find it hard to incorporate what seem like very abstract lessons like these into my actual programming practice. I guess I just don't think in OO.
LibraryThing member James.Igoe
Depending on on how you think of programming, this book could be incredibly insightful, or horribly abstract and impractical. Since I prefer and tend to think in patterns and abstractions, I found this book close to my heart. It uses a variety of languages for examples, so a willingness to explore
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concepts, not practical solutions, is essential. Show Less
LibraryThing member wanne
The software design bible...
LibraryThing member scottjpearson
A classic in the field of computer science, this book describes how object-oriented software can be used to develop meaningful (and reusable) classes. It is written by the so-called "gang of four" affiliated with a working group at the University of Illinois. It has achieved notoriety for its
The book reads like a catalog of class types. After an initial critique on the state of computer programming, it reads like a textbook and a reference manual to be used. It is academic, analytical, and brilliant. Obviously, the book is only for the serious programmer who aspires to master her/his trade. It is not for the casual programmer or even for the intermediate programmer. It does not hold the reader's metaphorical hand as the book is perused. Instead, it provides data and analysis like a research paper. Of course, in such a style, wisdom is distilled into compact sentences.
I'll be happy to put this book on my bookshelf at work and refer to it when designing software.
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assistance in helping programmers write code more effectively in languages like C , SmallTalk, and (my current language) PHP. The book has started a large movement in identifying design principles that are inherent in all computer science problems.The book reads like a catalog of class types. After an initial critique on the state of computer programming, it reads like a textbook and a reference manual to be used. It is academic, analytical, and brilliant. Obviously, the book is only for the serious programmer who aspires to master her/his trade. It is not for the casual programmer or even for the intermediate programmer. It does not hold the reader's metaphorical hand as the book is perused. Instead, it provides data and analysis like a research paper. Of course, in such a style, wisdom is distilled into compact sentences.
I'll be happy to put this book on my bookshelf at work and refer to it when designing software.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mykl-s
I wanted to make use of some of the ideas i learned from this book, but did not work in the kind of programing shop where I could do that.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1994
1997 (CDROM)
Physical description
395 p.; 7.4 inches
ISBN
0201633612 / 9780201633610
UPC
785342633610