Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Every programmer should actually have read this classic. “Actually,” because it is written in a very academic style and therefore difficult to read – especially if you’re a non-native speaker and read it in the original English edition.

It describes some of the most relevant design patterns (if not the most relevant ones of all) and their relationships with each other in great detail.

You’ll notice that the book is already 25 years old: the code examples are partly outdated from today’s point of view, and they entirely ignore newer aspects like concurrency. Nevertheless, every programmer should have this work on his bookshelf and know, recognize, and apply the classic 23 design patterns.

If you prefer something more practical, I recommend the online course “Java Design Patterns” by Dr. Heinz Kabutz, author of the well-known JavaSpecialists’ newsletter.

🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? No, due to numerous code examples and diagrams.