Design pattern books to get through thick skulls

Oct 18, 2007

With the increase in Flex/Actionscript adoption and the increase in the size and complexity of applications being built, design patterns should be popping up on the radars of many developers who have not run across them before, especially Flash developers. You may already be using them and not even realize it, that was my case a few years ago. Simply put, design patterns are solutions to common problems that developers run across, normally with great frequency. Understanding what they are, how they work, and when to use them are things all good developers should be able to do. If you are new to design patterns there are two excellent books I would recommend reading.

The first book I read on design patterns was Head First Design Patterns. It is a very easy read on a very challenging topic. The samples are easy to understand (although in Java, which is close to AS3) and well presented. If you are new to design patterns this is a must read. My copy is well worn and marked up, always a good sign for a reference book.

The second book I highly recommend is one I just finished reading, Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns. This is a great resource book. It outlines practical uses for some common design patterns in actionscript projects. The patterns covered are explained thoroughly and the code examples are excellent. Just reading the code and following the logic will enhance your understanding of how to attack a problem and how to write clean, easy to follow code. An added bonus is the chapter on regular expressions and their use in AS3. It is likely the best explanation of regular expressions I have read in print.

I would suggest reading the Head First book first. It will give you an excellent foundational understanding of design patterns and clear up any foggy misconceptions you may have about what design patterns are and how to use them. I'm sure you will instantly discover a whole new way to approach development and architectural problems in your projects. Enjoy the reads.