JavaPulse » design patterns

Martin Fowler

Clara Ko — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:48:40 +0000

Martin Fowler writes insightful articles on various subjects of interest related to software development, such as XP and agile methods, refactoring, design patterns, and UML. He is also the author of a number of books on these subjects. I find that his articles on XP and agiles methods especially inspiring and are in concurrence with my own opinions. It’s good that someone is speaking out about these things. By bring our awareness to subjects that are often resisted by those who don’t understand what benefits they bring, Martin Fowler gives us the tools to make our projects run smoother.

Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies

Clara Ko — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 09:51:55 +0000

This is the very popular design pattern book written specifically for J2EE development. It is surprisingly readable. Its separation of patterns into presentation, business, and integration tiers allows you to focus efficiently. Alot of it are ways to deal with the annoying parts of J2EE though, such as EJBs. So if you’re not using EJBs, you can skip some chapters. I did find quite a few typos and copy-paste errors in the example codes. A little disappointed in the editors as this creates confusion. I also found the last “advance” example not very useful, as it was too much code and not explained thoroughly. But all-in-all, this is a must-read, as it feels good to give a name to some constructs that you’ve used in the past.

Accompanying website: http://www.corej2eepatterns.com

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Clara Ko — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 09:07:50 +0000

This is the granddaddy book of design patterns by the Gang of Four. It was not written for any specific programming language and therefore have abstract examples. Good to read as an intellectual exercise, but I mainly use it as a reference.