Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: I purchased this book a week ago since I had to study for a test on Java design and patterns for a company interview. After taking the exam, I got exactly what I was looking for--I passed the exam. I can honestly claim that this book has contributed in making me a better Java developer through the use of patterns.
Rating: 
Summary: This warning was posted in my company
Review: X and Y reviewed the "Patterns in Java" book from Mark Grand as a potential candidate for our next patterns study cycle, and we came to the conclusion that it was not an appropriate material for the following reasons: - Despite claiming to be an illustration of the GoF patterns, some fundamental mistakes have been made in both the commentaries and the java examples. - The essence of the patterns are not mastered by the author. - The examples are not typical of the patterns, leaving the reader confused - Numerous typos and textual mistakesIn summary, this is neither a good patterns book nor a good java book, and we just wanted to warn you if you ever considered acquiring it.
Rating: 
Summary: Objective reviewing
Review: I'd say that I agree with the author here. It is one thing to say that an author expects to be paid for his book, but it is a totally different thing to say that an author merely tries to GRAB your money. This is a serious, yet probably groundless, accusation. This kind of review can hardly be called objective, and certainly doesn't add any value for would-be buyers in getting a description of the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: Forget all the Java tutorials - get this book!
Review: Ok, I am an aspiring Java programmer, but I have considerable experience in both programming and development on a number of platforms. I purchased "Patterns in Java" this afternoon, and have been locked into it for 6 or 7 hours. It is fascinating! This is my first exposure to using patterns in system design, and the first tutorial I've read on UML notation. I now "know" UML, but that is almost beside the point. The main thing is I now have a handbook for designing object oriented systems - what a relief! And it uses short, understandable samples of java code, to boot. I have a shelf full of books on the Java language itself, some good, some pretty rough. But "Patterns" is one of a kind in terms of the combination of subjects it treats (Java, UML, Patterns), as far as I know. It is well thought out and serious, and the subject matter is fascinating and very germane to virtually any modern developer. The prose is a bit terse, but it definitely packs a wallop. Enjoy ;) Mark Donaghue
Rating:
Summary: Read GoF first to avoid bad habits presented in this book
Review: Ok, I can get past the numerous typos and little mistakes, however the entire intent of utilizing patterns seems to be lost in the implementation examples presented here. For instance, client code is shown for the author's "version" of an abstract factory that actually calls a getFactory method with a constant standing for the concrete factory to use. The entire intent of creation patterns was to NOT to do this. If the class used to create an object is to be known to the client through hardcoding, why use a factory method in the first place? The implementation of many of the patterns is just plain wrong, or doesn't resemple the GoF version in intent. Consider the example implementation of the Factory Method given. What is that? The examples in this book seem to teach that flexibility in OO can best be achieved through code modification of existing classes. Do yourself a favor, read Go4 Design Patterns, understand it, and translate the C++ examples to Java yourself if you like. My biggest problem with this book is that it will help make bad OO programmers. There's already enough of those out there, thank you. I have to go return my book now ...
Rating:
Summary: Disservice to the review process
Review: By allowing an author to threaten legal action based on a negative review, you destroy the viability of providing product reviews in the first place. If we are to be scared into not criticizing product, then the reviews are pointless. The review to which Mr. Grand refers (not mine, by the way) is by no means libelous -- every author expects to be paid. Insinuating that Mr. Grand expects to make good money off his book is a perfectly valid opinion. You will do your reviewers a great service by removing Mr. Grand's threatening anti-review. As to the book itself, my prior commentary stands but I now dock the book a star, regardless of my fear of "author reprisal."
Rating:
Summary: Please read my comment
Review: I am Mark Grand, the author of "Patterns in Java". I apologize for sending correspondence on a page intended for reviews, but I don't know how else to send this. If someone wrote that my book is the worst thing that they have ever seen, I would be disappointed, but accept that as a valid opinion. One of the reviews that you have posted is an attack on me and not my book. I consider it libelous. I ask that you remove the entire review. The review is speculation that my motives in writing the book were sleazy. Such comments about my motives are entirely inappropriate. I hope that legal action will not be necessary. The review in question follows: Money Grab
Nowhere near the GoF treatment. The author is merely cashing in on the combined craze of Java & Design Patterns and does justice to neither. Good business for him, poor book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Sketchy treatments at best
Review: The patterns in here are brief, which should not be a problem. But the examples do not do the patterns justice. The first pattern I picked out used a "foo" and "bar" example -- why even bother providing an example if you cannot make it concrete? I had to read many of the patterns several times before understanding them. Overall, I found this book more difficult than the original Design Patterns. This stuff is really not that hard, and Patterns in Java doesn't do much to clarify things.
Rating:
Summary: Approachable and informative
Review: As well as it's intended purpose to describe patterns in java terms I've found some very useful coding snippets extra over the pattern descriptions. I've learnt more about the jdk packages from the books frequent referal to pattern usage in the java api. Only 4 stars though; the book has many typographical errors and the layout could be better - especially the page headings, chapter number and chapter name; it would be much more useful to have chapter name, pattern name instead; I hope the author can manage this in his follow up volume which I will certainly buy.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent design pattern catalog.
Review: When rating something I seldom give the highest rating, but in this case I feel it is deserved. Patterns in Java Volume 1 is an excellent design patterns catalog. It contains patterns from the book Design Patterns by Gamma et al as well as patterns from other sources including the author. The fact that this catalog covers patterns that can be found in other catalogs may seem repetitious, but not in this case. Design patterns are a way of conveying expert solutions to software problems. But they are not cookbook solutions. There are issues and variations on each theme even for a pattern as apparently simple as Singleton. (If you need to be convinced of this, take a look at the book Pattern Hatching by John Vlissides.) Patterns in Java looks at each pattern from a fresh slant giving the reader who has read other catalogs a bit more insight on each pattern. The format used to describe the patterns is similar to that found in the GOF book or some of the patterns found in Pattern Languages of Program Design (volumes 1, 2 or 3): A synopsis of the problem to be solved is given and there are sections on the problem context, forces, the solution, consequences of using the pattern and implementation issues as well as example code and a list of related patterns. The book's diagrams are expressed in UML and one of the best short introductions to UML that I have seen is included as the second chapter. In addition to class diagrams, object diagrams, collaboration diagrams and state chart diagrams are used to document the patterns presented. Of course Java programmers will find this catalog particularly useful because the examples are all in Java. However, those that use other OO languages will find the example code and the explanatory text, clear and easy enough to follow. There are a number of typographical and other errors of the kind you'd expect in the first edition of a technical book. None of these errors are serious. The author includes his WEB page URL and states that updates will be posted there. I have found the book useful more than once in designing classes for a prototype my team is constructing. In short, I highly recommend this book as one of the design pattern catalogs that any programmer doing object oriented development should own.
| 
