design pattern

Hi !
Is Head First Design Pattern good for part 1 ?

No, its too good

I found Head first Design patterns an excellent book to understand patterns and also for part 1.

Cheers,
Gopi.

Hi all !
But is hfdp enought ? I mean , is this the only book on design that I shold read for part 1 ?

Short Answer: No � but it�s a good start.

Long answer:
The testing objectives (Section 8: Design Patterns) state:

From a list, select the most appropriate design pattern for a given scenario. Patterns will be limited to those documented in Gamma et al. and named using the names given in that book.

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software lists the following design patterns:
Creational Patterns
[1] Abstract Factory
[2] Builder
[3] Singleton
[4] Prototype
[5] Singleton

Structural Patterns
[6] Adapter
[7] Bridge
[8] Composite
[9] Decorator
[10] Fa�ade
[11] Flyweight
[12] Proxy

Behavioral Patterns
[13] Chain of Responsibility
[14] Command
[15] Interpreter
[16] Iterator
[17] Mediator
[18] Memento
[19] Observer
[20] State
[21] Strategy
[22] Template Methods
[23] Visitor



Head First Design Patterns covers:
[1] Strategy
[2] Observer
[3] Decorator
[4] Factory Method
[5] Abstract Factory
[6] Singleton
[7] Command
[8] Adapter
[9] Fa�ade
[10] Template Method
[11] Iterator
[12] Composite
[13] State
[14] Proxy


The following are only mentioned very briefly:
[15] Bridge
[16] Builder
[17] Chain of Responsibility
[18] Flyweight
[19] Interpreter
[20] Mediator
[21] Memento
[22] Prototype
[23] Visitor


Also, page xxvi of HFDP:

Who should probably back away from this book:

Are you a kick-butt OO designer/developer looking for a reference book?

Are you an architect looking for enterprise design patterns?

Fortunately, at this point you are only looking for design patterns.

HFDP is a great starting point for getting comfortable with design patterns but you are still responsible for the other nine patterns that are not covered in detail. As an aspiring architect you should have access to a design patterns reference (among other pattern references) � however many people find the GOF design patterns book a bit rough going, at least initially. It might be easier once you have the first 14 design patterns under your belt.

Thank you Peer !

I agree that HFDP covers patterns 15 to 23 very briefly. But these patterns are not that complex when compared to others (except Bridge ) and you still get a good idea of these patterns after reading them from HFDP. Also the questions in SCEA - 1 about patterns cover only the basics and it should be possible to answer even questions about patterns 15 - 23 after reading HFDP. After reading HFDP, once will gain a good in-depth understanding of patterns 1 - 14 and they can be easily identified / eliminated in the multiple choice questions. So HFDP alone should be enough to tackle SCEA - 1.

Is "Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for J2EE Study Guide by Paul R. Allen-Joseph J. Bambara" not enough to prepare for SCEA - 1? Please suggest. I am yet to start preparing for Design Patterns. If 'hfdp' or 'Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software', please let me know. I am comfortable with few patterns mentioned here as I have already used it.

Originally posted by B Sathish:
So HFDP alone should be enough to tackle SCEA - 1.

You may be correct, however when making such a recommendation you should also be careful to point out that the testing objectives refer to Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (GoF), not Head First Design Patterns (HFDP). It is also likely that the GoF Patterns guide was used by the test designers when they designed the exam questions.

The GoF Patterns guide is usually criticized because it doesn't use strict UML and because it uses C++. Well, it was published in Jan 1995! Once you have digested HFDP you should find the GoF Patterns guide much easier to deal with. Pages 81-349 contain the actual patterns catalog (You'll probably never read the first 80 pages). The GoF Patterns guide established the Pattern documentation template with sections for:

Intent

Also Known As

Motivation

Applicability

Participants

Collaborations

Consequences

Implementation

Known Uses

Related Patterns

The Intent, Motivation, Applicability, Consequences, Known Uses, and Related Patterns sections are quite useful after HFDP. Understanding these sections may improve your odds on picking the right pattern in the exam - and more importantly later in "real life".
As a CD-ROM the GoF Patterns guide is more portable than HFDP.

If anyone is interested, here is Pankaj Kumar's review of Head First Design Patterns. He likes the book but still states:

Eventually, you should get the GoF Patterns book for reference but this one is a good way to get started.