Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing.
Review: The code examples are sketchy and incomplete, and often utilize techniques that may be good practice but that obfuscate the concept the reader is trying to learn.For example his coverage of the Delegation pattern (which I have yet to see documented in any other book, I'm still looking :) is verbosely explained but the accompanying example code is so vague and has so many ...'s as to be almost unusable.
Rating: 
Summary: OK as a first place to look
Review: If you are a Java programmer without years of experience, the GoF book may be quite difficult. This book is not as thorough but is a lot easier and has the sample code in Java. This book does adequate job in introducing the pattern concept and the most important patterns to the not-so-experienced coder. If you feel intimidated by the GoF book, buy this first. If not, then you might want to pass this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Never take a shortcut.. read Gof book
Review: I too bought the Java Design book to cover the subject with an affinity to Java and UML. Concurrently reading GoF and comparing patterns which is almost like comparing a work of Shakespeare with that of an amateur. Ended up just toughing through the smalltalk examples and pre-UML diagramming conventions to end with clearer explanations and correct coverage. I almost bought volumne 2 at the same time.. I'm glad I did not. Unfortunately there are not many alternatives out there.
Rating:
Summary: Other Java Design books
Review: I read the first chapter of this book and it does seem easier than the Gof book, although the reviews scare me away. On the other hand I'm afraid I'll get confused with the multiple inheiritance of C++ in Gof. Another book to consider is Bruce Eckel's java design patterns book. It isn't out yet, but it's at his web site. I liked his book about object oriented programming. Maybe I'll just print it out.
Rating:
Summary: Great Idea spoiled by lack of attention to detail
Review: I was really excited for a Java-slanted version of the famous Design Patterns book. This should have been an easy home run but Grand let us down on the details. I went into this book knowing some about Patterns and was eager to learn more. However, after wasting my time hacking my way through incorrect diagrams and inconsistencies between code and text I am about ready to through the book out, learn C and read Gamma's book. I don't know who edited this book but they obviously didn't know much about UML or Code. You want detail examples: Chapter Eight (Chain of Responsibility GoF95). A pretty simple pattern made difficult because of the incorrect UML diagram in the context (association arrows going the wrong direction), and the incorrect text conflicting with the code. I figured the pattern out by comparing it to Gamma's example, it is really quite simple. The there are many more examples, especially frustrating on some of the more abstract patterns. Grand should have hired a better editor. If you buy this book and know little about patterns I suggest you also get Gamma's book and refer to it often.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome introduction to the essential design patterns
Review: This book was my first introduction to patterns and I absolutely loved it. What I love about it is that the author gives examples of where a lot of the patterns are used in the standard java api's. In this way, it really helps to visualize how you might use the pattern. Also, there are introductory chapters on UML and the software development lifecycle, which advantageous for those that aren't familiar with the topics.
Rating:
Summary: Best-written catalog of Patterns
Review: I have two volumes and I am looking forward to future volumes! The explanations here are more clear than those in Go4 or other pattern catalogs I've read. This book was written with the reader in mind. Very nice. If you really want to get to know a book, make it a required text for a course you teach. That's what I have done. This is one of very few books that have not disappointed me as a text in a course. I have not looked at the source code that comes with the book. The explanations are so clear, it is easy to implement the patterns yourself. Keep up the good work, Mark.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, haven't found anything better yet.
Review: Here's what I did to evaluate design pattern books: Read GofF and then sat in a B&N bookstore with every design pattern book they had. This was the one I found to be the most useful. Some caveats: First of all, if you're not at least an intermediate java programmer, you probably will have a hard time reading this book. Buy Volume 2 first (kind of strange but it's actually not as advanced) which is less about design patterns and more about fundamental design principles. Second, even if you are an intermediate to advanced Java programmer, it can be difficult to understand. But then, the subject matter is by nature abstract. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything more useful, including GoF. It's written for C++/Smalltalk and sometimes the multiple inheritance allowed by those languages makes it difficult to translate the pattern to Java. I have found this book to be the one I end up getting the most out of when I'm doing Java design work. It makes a great reference.
Rating:
Summary: I guess Mark isn't a member of the communist party
Review: ...I've read about 8 or 9 patterns in Grand's book. The writing is good, and clear, but lacks the snooty vocabulary of Rational publications (thank goodness!). I think this book is an excellent resource - to the point, and if you don't know C++ or SmallTalk, you'll get a lot more out of this book than you will from Gamma et al.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like to learn from incomplete code
Review: Well, if you think you could understand from an incomplete Java code, this would be the right book for you. For most of us in the planet earth, we learn from trial and error (proven) methods.
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