Must read: Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
Tags: programming, beginners, productivity, codenewbie
Published: 2023-03-17 00:26:20

About the authors: "Gang of Four" (GoF)! They are four software wizards, namely Erich Gamma, John Vlissides, Ralph Johnson, and Richard Helm. These guys wrote the book on object-oriented software design, and they called it "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software."

These four wizards poured their hearts and knowledge into this book, which outlines 23 patterns to solve common design problems in software engineering. They created three categories of patterns: creational, structural, and behavioral patterns. It's like they gave fellow software developers a wand and taught them magical spells to solve their design problems. (also check this site it has tons of content https://refactoring.guru/design-patterns/catalog)

This book wasn't just some ordinary publication either. It became a game-changer in the software engineering world as it completely changed the way software developers designed object-oriented software. It's like they unlocked the secrets to the software world, and everyone was eager to learn from them.

But who are these guys exactly? Erich Gamma is from Switzerland and currently works as a software engineer at Microsoft. John Vlissides, who sadly passed away in 2005, was from Pennsylvania and worked at IBM. Ralph Johnson is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois, and Richard Helm, who also passed away in 1997, used to work at Object Technology International (OTI).

These four wizards joined forces to create this book simply because they wanted to share their knowledge and expertise with the world. And boy did they! They were recognized with awards such as the ACM Software Systems Award and the IEEE Software Engineering Classics Award, and they made an everlasting impact on the field of software engineering.


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Picture this: You spend hours writing code, but it’s spaghetti code (you know, the kind that’s all over the place and nobody can figure out how it works). Then, someone comes along and introduces you to design patterns. Suddenly, your code is clean, organized, and a breeze to debug. It's like you've entered a secret club of the top-notch software developers.

Design patterns can be applied to any programming language. They help you write efficient, elegant, and robust code. These patterns are like secret codes that allow you to solve common software problems without reinventing the wheel.

Imagine you're building a chair, and you have all the different types of hammers, saws, saw blades, drills, nails, and screws in your hands. That’s how you should think about design patterns. These are the tools that you need to build practical, maintainable, and scalable software that doesn't fall apart after the first user opens it.

And the benefits of design patterns, my friend, are many. They help you build more flexible systems, reduce code duplication, and make software updates easier to manage. You'll have more free time to do other things like sleeping, eating, or enjoying a good video game.

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One of my favorite patterns is the “Observer Pattern”. It’s like having a club of people that are all interested in hearing you talk about your code changes. This pattern allows you to broadcast changes throughout your objects and classes. So all your interested parties will know when you’ve made changes, but don't worry, nobody will judge you.

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Another killer pattern is the “Factory Pattern”. This pattern is like having a personal manufacturing facility for object creation. It encourages the use of a factory class to create instances rather than manually creating objects in a program. Imagine you are manufacturing different types of cars with only one assembly line. The factory pattern can help you create the identical cars more efficiently.

You should absolutely read this book like your life depends on it. It's like a roadmap for producing efficient, scalable, and readable code. Even if you don't plan on becoming a full-time software developer, you'll learn a lot about the principles that underlie good coding, and you'll gain an appreciation for the difficult work that goes into building powerful software.

## Lessons from the book:

1. Design patterns allow you to build flexible, scalable, and maintainable systems.
2. There are three primary types of design patterns: creational, structural, and behavioral patterns.
3. Flat structures are simpler to maintain than deeply nested ones.
4. Reusability and flexibility are achieved by decoupling common components.
5. The Single Responsibility Principle is essential for making your codebase maintainable and flexible.
6. Design patterns help you to create better software by encapsulating functionality and creating good abstractions.
7. The Open/Closed Principle encourages you to write code that can be extended without having to modify existing code.
8. Design patterns must be learned and understood before they can be properly applied in your codebase.
9. You should choose a pattern based on what fits your specific context.
10. Design patterns are not a silver bullet that will solve all of your software problems.
11. You should always strive to write code that is simple and easy to understand, rather than relying on overly complex patterns.
12. Understanding design patterns can help you communicate more efficiently with colleagues and stakeholders.
13. A pattern language helps you identify and describe groups of patterns that work together in a specific context.
14. Common design patterns are not language-specific and can be applied in any programming language.
15. Understanding design patterns can help you write more efficient and elegant code.
16. Design patterns should be used thoughtfully and selectively, as using too many can make your codebase more complicated rather than simpler.
17. Design patterns are tested and proven solutions to common software problems used by experienced developers.
18. Design patterns can enhance code readability and improve system maintainability.
19. Design patterns can help you to create cleaner code by separating concerns into their own objects.
20. Design patterns have evolved over time and continue to be an important aspect of software development.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a copy of "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" and start transforming your coding game! Become the next coding guru who saves the day!