design patterns

quick post... reading the head first design patterns book by o'reilly press. I'm only on page 17 and I'm already impressed. I had, at the outset, almost decided against liking this book. The "visual kitsch" is not an approach I would normally care for, and find, on the surface, mildly irritating. but having read their rationale for designing it this way, I can't really argue with them. also, I think it's actually proving effective, which I wouldn't have expected.

The first chapter's Duck example is excellent. The separation of unique and potentially variable behavior into a class in it's own right is a brilliant idea. I've actually done that in the past, on my own, but never really considered the what and why of it. The explanation and description of the pitfalls is excellent. That they lead you through the other potential ways of solving the problem, and show why they don't work, help crystialize the reasoning behind the desing solution.

I'm impressed.

I'll probably update this post as I go.