With the profusion of technologies, it's rare to say that a particular book is required reading for developers. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object Oriented Software is one of those indispensable texts for anyone who develops software using objects. This CD-ROM edition contains a hypertext version of the book, along with additional features that make it easy to use patterns in your own programs.
The CD-ROM works with any Java-enabled browser (Internet Explorer 4.0 and Netscape Communicator 4.0.) It includes the full text of the printed book along with the richness of hypertext links to get the most out of patterns quickly. (Two versions of the text, one for 640 x 480 resolution and one for higher resolutions, are provided.)
Patterns are higher-order designs, which occur repeatedly in object-oriented design. The heart of this title is the "pattern catalog" of 23 basic patterns, ranging from creational patterns, such as Factory and Builder, and structural patterns, such as Facade and Flyweight, to behavioral patterns, such as Command and Mediator. The CD-ROM details each design element along with reasons to use it and sample code in Smalltalk and C++. (With the online version, you can even cut and paste sample code into your programs.) You can use the Java search engine to search the CD-ROM for keywords, and the online version lets you cross-reference patterns easily. All in all, the Design Patterns CD is an appealing new version of one of the most essential texts for object-oriented developers.
Capturing a wealth of experience about the design of object-oriented software, four top-notch designers present a catalog of simple and succinct solutions to commonly occurring design problems. Previously undocumented, 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 then go on to systematically name, explain, evaluate, and catalog recurring designs in object-oriented systems. With Design Patterns as your guide, you will learn how these important patterns fit into the software development process, and how you can leverage them to solve your own design problems most efficiently.
Each pattern describes the circumstances in which it is applicable, when it can be applied in view of other design constraints, and the consequences and trade-offs of using the pattern within a larger design. All patterns are compiled from real systems and are based on real-world examples. Each pattern also includes code that demonstrates how it may be implemented in object-oriented programming languages like C++ or Smalltalk.