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Patterns

 
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Is it worth learning SmallTalk Patterns as well as GoF Patterns ?
Just to provide a breadth of exposure. Any comments from teachers out there are particularly welcome.
 
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I would tend to think that whatever difference there is between design patterns in SmallTalk and design patterns in C++, they all stem from differences in language features. Opinions?
 
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Depends on what you mean by Smalltalk patterns. AFAIK here are only a couple of books on patterns in Smalltalk that I know about; mine and Kent Beck's. A lot of Java programmers have said that they particularly liked my book (the Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion) because it gave them insights into the GoF patterns that they didn't get from the original GOF book. On the other hand, I'd consider Kent's patterns (from Smalltalk Best Practices Patterns) to be fairly fundamental to development in any language -- howewever Martin Fowler mostly rephrased them all into Java when he wrote Refactoring.
Kyle
 
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Learning Smalltalk for its own sake might be a good growth experience. I had only a brief exposure to Smalltalk, and it struck me every day as a complete reversal of everything I knew. If you have a chance to work with somebody who really knows their way around it, take it. I found it exhilerating and educational. If you don't have a guru handy, you can download Squeak and give it a try, but going in without a guide will likely be a bit overhwelming.
[ February 07, 2004: Message edited by: Stan James ]
 
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I read "Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns" by Kent Beck and really liked it!
The only drawback is that some of the shortcomings of Java become really obvious...
 
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I really enjoyed the Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion. I thought it was far easier to read and understand than the original Design Patterns book. It also presented a different perspective on things, which helped that much more in learning design patterns.
Having said that, however, I recently looked at the book and recognized that my background in Smalltalk helped considerably. I also recognized that many of the pattern discussions seemed pretty inapplicable to Java.
In any case, I've not come across a comprehensive book on fundamental design patterns in Java that I thought was very good, so I'd still recommend the Smalltalk version over, say, a not-so-hot Wiley version. Also, some schmuck wrote a Java version of the Beck Smalltalk Best Practices Patterns book. It reads well, but tries too hard to force the Smalltalk into Java.
-Jeff-
 
HS Thomas
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Thanks everyone for the very useful feedback.

Originally posted by Stan James:
you can download Squeak and give it a try, but going in without a guide will likely be a bit overhwelming.


What's the future of Squeak ? Just wondered.... I will try it though.
[ February 09, 2004: Message edited by: HS Thomas ]
 
Ilja Preuss
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Originally posted by Jeff Langr:
Also, some schmuck wrote a Java version of the Beck Smalltalk Best Practices Patterns book. It reads well, but tries too hard to force the Smalltalk into Java.


Wasn't that "Elements of Java Style" or something? I very much preferred the original...
 
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Originally posted by Ilja Preuss:
Wasn't that "Elements of Java Style" or something? I very much preferred the original...


You are close... it was Essential Java Style: Patterns for Implementation and it was written by a Mr. Langr (the schmuck that Jeff was referring to). I actually liked it quite a bit. I haven't read Beck's version... being an introvert I have always feared Smalltalk.
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