Implementation patterns are partly different in different languages. What is considered a reasonable practice in Ruby would be sneered at in Java code. Sometimes this is because of the structure of the language, sometimes it stems from the prevailing culture around a language. The principles and values in Implementation Patterns work in any language and fundamental thesis, the importance of communicating with other people, does too.
The first book I wrote was The Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns, basically the same scope as Implementation Patterns but applied to Smalltalk. I started IP with the outline of the earlier book, but many of the patterns are quite different.
I chose Java because it is the lingua franca of programming at the moment and because I already knew Java. I can imagine writing a whole series of XXX Implementation Patterns books to explore the differences between languages, but that would be a different project.
Regards,
Kent Beck Three Rivers Institute
Author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596007434/ref=jranch-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">JUnit Pocket Guide</a>
Walter Bernstein
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Originally posted by Kent Beck: The first book I wrote was The Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns, basically the same scope as Implementation Patterns but applied to Smalltalk.
That's a great book.
Ilja Preuss
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Originally posted by Walter Bernstein:
That's a great book.
Agreed!
Which raises another question for me: are there things that you would do differently today if you were writing SBPP now (or do a second edition)? Perhaps something that is reflected in Implementation Patterns?
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
Kent Beck
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Ilja,
What I learned writing Implementation Patterns is how much language influences what idioms are appropriate. I started with the same outline and ended up with (it seems to me, I haven't measured) not very much overlap.
If I was writing the Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns again I would expand the scope to cover the patterns you use when the code base is going to get very large. Other than that I think the book stands up pretty well.
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