Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (Head First)
by Brett D. McLaughlin, Gary Pollice, Dave West
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brett D. McLaughlin, Dave West, Gary PolliceEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Illustrated
Published: 2006-11-27
ISBN: 0596008678
Number of pages: 634
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Book Reviews of Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (Head First)
Book Review: fun take on object orientation basics
Summary: 4 Stars
HFOOA&D is designed to introduce the reader to the process of designing software. It doesn't push a formal methodology, but covers the basic building blocks that are common to most approaches, including requirements gathering, use cases and iterative design. Additionally, there is heavy emphasis on design principles such as the Open-Closed Principle, and the Single Responsibility Principle and more general concepts such as encapsulation and cohesion. UML class diagrams are used, but no more than the basics. Design patterns are mentioned in places, but you don't need any knowledge of them to understand what's going on. This book is more about the principles that underlie design patterns. Indeed, for those wondering where this book fits in with Head First Java and Head First Design Patterns, you should read HFJ first, then this one, and then HFDP.
Java is used as the language throughout - while Java 5.0 features are avoided (apart from enums), you still need to know the syntax and be comfortable with the mechanisms by which Java implements objects, such as interfaces. You can't jump into this book with just knowledge of VB, for example.
The material is treated in the usual Head First style: off-the-wall scenarios, conversational writing, lots of dialogue delivered in a pseudo-comic book style by using photos of real people, anthropomorphism of computer terms. A lot of effort is put into making the experience seem as much like social interaction as possible. It's a winning formula, and it works again here.
But Head First Java and Head First Design Patterns were two really stellar books. So, by comparison with those two, I must admit to being a little disappointed with this one. Maybe it's because this book was rewritten from scratch over a short time period, after an initial treatment by Dave Wood (google hfoobook to find the old webpage), but while there are some nice touches here and there, overall, this lacks the pizzazz of HFJ and HFDP. There are noticeably fewer pop culture references and the use of characters and scenarios are less memorable. Also, there are a couple of rhetorical devices lifted from HFDP. These are less fresh the second time around.
And in parts, the explanations are a little fuzzy. Partly this is due to the inherent fuzziness of design, partly due to the approach this book takes of showing the different aspects of analysis and design in an iterative fashion, with a series of long examples, which work very well in other ways. But Head First Design Patterns demonstrated that you can tackle this sort of material with clarity. Here, I suspect many will be left feeling confused about the difference between association, aggregation and composition in UML - some Java examples would have been illuminating.
However, HFDP was always going to be a very tough act to follow. If HFOOA&D isn't quite as good as that, it's still far preferable to slogging through the sort of heavyweight process books it competes with.
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