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Rating: 
Summary: Too many serious coding errors in the samples
Review: I just wanted to vent my displeasure with some of the errors in the code samples in "Java Enterprise Design Patterns (Vol 3)". One specific pattern I tested was the Ephemeral Cache Item pattern (pg. 325). Not just one simple error but some serious flaws in the code (both as printed in the book and as copied on the CD). The background DeletionScheduler thread is not reducing the currentCacheCounter and more problematic is the fact that the run method (on that thread) only enters a while loop if there are no objects in the cache (quite the opposite from what should be happening). As well there are another 2 lines of code in that while loop that had to be moved. I would think a junior or intermediate developer would quickly get frustrated if they tried to implement that code. As for me, well I would definately think twice again before spending my money on a book published by Wiley. I also believe that if Mark Grand is going to put his name as the sole author on a book, he should take the time (or hire a code monkey) to test the code prior to publishing it. JM2C
Rating:
Summary: Too many serious coding errors in the samples
Review: I just wanted to vent my displeasure with some of the errors in the code samples in "Java Enterprise Design Patterns (Vol 3)". One specific pattern I tested was the Ephemeral Cache Item pattern (pg. 325). Not just one simple error but some serious flaws in the code (both as printed in the book and as copied on the CD). The background DeletionScheduler thread is not reducing the currentCacheCounter and more problematic is the fact that the run method (on that thread) only enters a while loop if there are no objects in the cache (quite the opposite from what should be happening). As well there are another 2 lines of code in that while loop that had to be moved. I would think a junior or intermediate developer would quickly get frustrated if they tried to implement that code. As for me, well I would definately think twice again before spending my money on a book published by Wiley. I also believe that if Mark Grand is going to put his name as the sole author on a book, he should take the time (or hire a code monkey) to test the code prior to publishing it. JM2C
Rating:
Summary: Laborious reading
Review: I think Mark wanted to show all the variations of all the patterns, the patterns end up being far too huge and difficult to understand. I had to spend way too much time trying to understand each pattern.I bought this book and then followed it with Martin Fowler's book on Enterprise Patterns and I definitely liked Martin Fowler's book much better, easier to read and just describes the core of the pattern without trying to elaborate on all the details. This book may be a good reference aid, but if you want to know the name of the patterns and get a 'feel' of what they do so that you can look it up later, you would be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Laborious reading
Review: I think Mark wanted to show all the variations of all the patterns, the patterns end up being far too huge and difficult to understand. I had to spend way too much time trying to understand each pattern. I bought this book and then followed it with Martin Fowler's book on Enterprise Patterns and I definitely liked Martin Fowler's book much better, easier to read and just describes the core of the pattern without trying to elaborate on all the details. This book may be a good reference aid, but if you want to know the name of the patterns and get a 'feel' of what they do so that you can look it up later, you would be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: There is more than just one patterns book
Review: I think there is room on the shelf for more than one book on patterns. Gamma and the rest of the GoF didn't invent patterns, and I bet if you talked to them, they would say the same thing. Their book is one way to look at them. A LOT of other people do books on patterns, from different points of view, and they (for the most part and to differing degrees) are valuable contributions to the literature. Some good ones include Pattern Oriented Software Architecture (or POSA) in 2 volumes, and Core J2EE Patterns. I think this book is a great disection of patterns methodology in Java. It's not GoF, but I don't think it has to be. Judged on it's own merits, it's really a good book, and I get very tired of people saying it has to be GoF.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent pattern descriptions
Review: This is an excellent well-written book on Enterprise design patterns. Mark Grand presents his topics very clearly and does a very good job of describing each pattern he discusses. The book starts with a very thorough tutorial on UML that provides a lot of different examples of the various diagrams and the elements of each and how they are used and work together. This part of the book gives a good foundation for the balance of the book, which makes heavy use of UML diagrams in the descriptions of the patterns. Firstly, the book is logically divided into different sections based on the common uses of the patterns described. Then each pattern description is broken down into various parts. Mark does an excellent job of focusing in on the various things that affect the pattern in use (he calls them forces) he also uses real world examples to describe usage these examples make it much easier for the reader to comprehend what the author is trying to say. This is not a book that you will just pick up and read in order to learn all about enterprise patterns and how to use them. Instead this is a book that you will read once then use each time you are implementing a pattern in order to see what you've missed and to get ideas on how to better get your job done. From a purely educational point of view the book is very good and will teach you a lot about the patterns in it. From a development standpoint it might be even more valuable in that it can be used as a reference to get alternative ideas or to see what consideration you may have missed in your implementations. I would recommend this book to anyone doing enterprise work currently or who might be doing it in the future.
Now I have to go out and get the first two volumes .
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