Form Your Own Design Pattern Study Group
Publish Date: Apr. 6, 2005

Like most complex subjects, design patterns are best learned over a period of time, not in a few sittings. Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Freeman, coauthors of Head First Design Patterns, suggest one way to ease the learning curve (and have some fun along the way): form a study group, using their book. If you're ready to get your engineering team together, the Freemans get you started in this article with a plan to follow and chapter-by-chapter questions to help generate discussion.

View all articles by Elisabeth Freeman.

Head First Design Patterns

Customer Reviews

dead last
2006-12-19 12:17:33 Anonymous Reader
The constantly changing fonts (some of them cartoonish), font sizes and styles may have seemed like a "cute" approach at first but they quickly become annoying. Some pages have the look of a "Ransom Note" made up of bits and pieces cut and pasted from all kinds of sources. This has never been considered a good design paradigm by anyone, anywhere. Pretty sad for a book on DESIGN patterns.

head last
2006-12-18 09:13:46 ralph
Someone once said "The first victim of War is truth". I like to turn this around when commenting on technological education and say "The first victim of expertise is perspective". Time and time again I read things written by "experts" wherein it is abundantly clear that the person doing the writing/speaking knows exactly what they're talking about. Unfortunately, they've completely forgotten what it was like to "not know" and they are at a loss as to how to communicate/teach their subject to the uninitiated.

This is the feeling I get when reading this book. The author(s)'s credentials are impeccable. There seems to be an implied level of previous knowledge which is assumed on the part of the author - as if the book is intended as a review for those folks who already know this stuff.

I didn't buy the book (a mistake) because I already know this stuff. I bought the book because I don't and wanted to learn.

A lot of the language reads like goobledegook. There seem to be MANY assumptions of prior knowledge and you know what the wise man said about what happens when you ASSUME.

Very disappointing. I wuldn't even give it one star except that's the lowest rating available.

great way to learn
2006-11-06 11:22:58 Anonymous Reader
the way this book teaches you design patterns is both refreshing -- and also in line wiht how I learn best. It would be an even better experience if it came with an audio file to support some of the heavier topics.

Poorly chosen example
2006-10-27 12:49:30 kriviere
First off, I only read the sample chapter 3, but the example shown there seemed so poorly chosen that I lost interest. I'm sure the decorator pattern they described is useful, but the various decorator classes they created were so similar that they varied only in their data. A much simpler design driven by data instead of having to write additional code when a new option is added would be much more appropriate. If the examples in other chapters are as poorly chosen then this could lead to learning the wrong lessons about which patterns to use.

(p.s. this comment form didn't display properly in Firefox 1.5.0.7. The image of the cover overlay the fields for the name and whatever the second field is.)

I would love learning if my tutor taught like that...
2006-09-14 09:03:38 dawncaller
What a fantastic way to learn! I wish I had a tutor who taught like that, and I would love studying at colleges...

Amazingly Brilliant
2006-07-23 04:24:42 Balaji Sunder
Makes learning a fun, and never looses its core objective of ensuring that the reader understands the intent of each pattern.
A killer combination.
Buy it, read it, you'll never regret it.

Excellent
2006-05-02 01:06:45 salgo60
Excellent book that makes me understand a little bit more. Feels it should be combined with a lot of exercise and maybe a study group. Really nice that someone has done some c# examples...

See Mark McFadden C# examples
(http://www.wickedlysmart.com/HeadFirst/HeadFirstDesignPatterns/HeadFirstPatternsIndex.html")

http://www.msquaredweb.com/DesignPatterns/

Wouldn't had learned Design Patterns w/o this book
2006-04-25 13:54:56 Anonymous Reader
This is my first reading of Head First series books. And already hooked on to the Gang of Fours. Without this books I would have never been able to understand design patterns.

Excellent rendering of complex material
2006-03-24 06:58:59 sharadhegde
Encouraged by a wise colleague, when I first read the GOF book way back in '97, it was a revelation. At that juncture, I had already read the tomes by Rambaugh and Booch. Though these books enabled me to talk about merits of OO design vs. procedural languages, using them in practical situation was difficult. I usually ended up designing deep inheritance trees and when stuck resorted to declaring friend functions and classes.
But "Design Patterns" by GOF totally changed my life(that sounds geeky). I understood how to use composition and started writing better OO code. But reading that book was some task. It was difficult read and understanding a pattern required several reads. This is probably the reason that the most popular pattern is "Singleton”, sadly that too is usually misused.
The "head first design pattern" has given a different treatment to the whole topic. It has simplified it for the future generation of OO programmers. It's a "must read" for every budding programmer, and I would also recommend it to everyone who has read the seminal "Design Patterns" book and wished they would write a simplified "Revised edition".
-Sharad Hegde

Head first UML, pretty pleeeeaaasse??
2005-11-13 20:38:58 Anonymous Reader
Hello -
Very glad to hear you like Head First!
To answer your questions:
Head First Objects, coming out in 2006 will have some UML. Head First UML is definitely on our list of "would love to have" titles, so hopefully that will come soon, too.
Color: Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML is a beautiful, four color book. You'll see this in stores in December.

Beth Freeman

Head first UML, pretty pleeeeaaasse??
2005-09-06 01:55:02 Anonymous Reader
What I forgot to ask - next time in color, maybe? For that I would even give a six star rating ... :)

Head first UML, pretty pleeeeaaasse??
2005-09-06 01:52:01 Axel Bock
I am **AMAZED** by the head first approach. I purchased "Head first design patterns", and I love it. I can't express how grateful I am that for once someone company tried to deliver knowledge in a different (and in my eyes very much more effective!) way. Actually after having taken a look into HFDP I picked up the "gang of four", because -- after all -- it does look more "serious" and has an excellent reputation, so I thought I might maybe be better of buying this one.

About one minute later I was purchasing the Head First book.

And yes, it's that great. I am actually looking forward to reading a new chapter, every time I have to take a break. (Remember? It's a book about software design theory, not a Dan Brown thriller, right?)

It's funny, informational, and it gets the knowledge into my brain. I love it.

But - I have one little plea: "HEAD FIRST UML 2.0".
Everyone seems to love UML, but -- to be honest -- this is by far the most boring, dry, non-practical, headache-creating stuff to be learned by reading a book. But after seeing the Head First approach, I start to think that this could be done a bit better ... :)

A very interesting book of a relatively complex subject.
2005-06-24 14:45:05 Syed Suleman Ghaznavi
This is the first time i've ever given a 5 star rating to a book!
This is definately the most interesting and entertaining book i have ever come across on the subject of design patterns. The depth and scope of coverage, makes it a very well balanced read for both design patterns and fundamentals of good object oriented design. Even though the title of the book is simply "Design Patterns", it covers some very important aspects of OO design in addition to it.
The books covers some very practical examples and problem scenarios that programmers and software engineers encounter in their daily environments, which makes it very valuable to the reader and fun to read as well.
I wish if the "Head first" series would add much more topics in their collection of publications. :)

Syed Ghaznavi

Like it!
2005-06-20 13:20:00 John
I haven't finished it, but so far so good. Knowing that this question is rather sacreligious to a Java person, but I'd like to see a .NET version. Not that much would change, and I don't have an issue with the Java syntax, but there are differences. Or perhaps you could add C# code below the Java code, if there are differences.

Other than that, it's a refreshing book that I've thusfar enjoyed.

Enterprise Design Patterns?
2005-04-27 16:38:20 Matt
This book looks great. I ordered my copy almost immediately after reading the sample chapter (chapter 3 on the Decorator pattern). If the rest of the book is that easy to understand and follow, then I'm really looking forward to future Head First titles.

I was wondering, though... Is there going to be an Enterprise Design Patterns book any time in the near or distant future?

Hitchhiker's Guide to Design Patterns
2005-04-23 09:32:12 Adam
I consider myself an expert in Java, but a total amateur when it came to design patterns. This book gave me the confidence to sling my backpack over my shoulder, grab my guitar case, write "design patterns or bust" on a piece of cardboard, and hit the road.

Too many times I've attempted to read articles on design patterns (sometimes from Sun's Java site). Inevitably I pray for a big red button that I could press repeatedly to make sense of the garbage.

About six months ago when the book was published I snapped it up and expected another "oh so fun" read (only a trite bit of sarcasm). However, I was immediately impressed with the writing style that appealed to multiple learning styles. The bizarre and quirky pictures and layouts made the material fun and interesting to navigate. I did not have to suffer through page after page of the same boring technical explanations.

I was able to start using the examples in the book and was soon able to integrate the material I had learned into my own daily projects at work. After a few months of reading and re-reading pieces of the book my projects at work have drastically improved as have my Java architect design skills. This past week I interviewed for and was offered a Java architect position at a very prestigious research lab in upstate NY. I definitely plan to share this excellent design patterns book with my new colleagues when I start my new position next Monday.

I am very appreciative to the entire Head First design team for producing such a fantastic text (part of the real I wrote this review). I very much look forward to upcoming "Head First" texts from O'Reilly.

Absolute killer, Must read!
2005-03-21 06:27:33 Ash
Hi

Great book.


The most important aspect that I liked about this book is it's simplicity and usage of simple/fun language with good examples.


I was for so long trying to understand the GOF book but never really got it straight.
I often wished if the authors would have written that book in much simpler language and provided java examples.
But this book fills in that void.


Good job by the authors.I would love to read EJB design pattern book from them.

Regards,

Ash

Learn with Fun...D.P. Great Fundas...
2005-03-07 00:34:53 Raxit Sheth
My comment is already given by Eric Gamma...in the book.This book is very interesting to read,makes one 's Funda Deep in OO,Reusable,Maintainable Design of software.I think Everyone who is using DP should Read this book so that more and more Funda would get settle in one's Brain.Also After Reading this book its easy to find Pattern Because its example is real life (that we face many times in design) and Funny also so easy to remember.

Also the person who wants to enter in DP from Scratch this book would be proved as Bible of "DP Funda's" after GoF book.

My first funny computer book with interesting content
2005-03-02 17:53:04 Joey Tang
Head First Design Patterns
(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfdesignpat/index.html)
By Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates
676 pages, US $44.95

---

I always hear the term of “design pattern” in programming books and magazines, e.g. factory pattern, singleton pattern. This takes my attention to know more about them. Therefore, I have looked for a book of “design pattern” for a long time. But most of them are boring and hard to understand as common computer books and web articles. Fortunately, I found this book.

The beautiful and funny book cover gives me a good first impression. After I got the book, woo~ what a thick and heavy book! I felt afraid because I guessed it would be full of text and I may need several months to complete it.

Nonetheless, boring is not the truth. With a lot of funny stuff (big font size, graphics, photos, hand writing stretches), exercises/games (crossword puzzles, match games), story like format, elaborate content, I couldn’t stop to read. I am able to get a clear picture of each pattern in easy and interesting ways. It does not deeply explain the detail of each pattern, but gives you a well introduction to each pattern with sample codes. It is suitable to people who are getting start to learn about “design pattern”.

However, the thickness of the book brings inconvenience. I cannot put it in my briefcase, carry it on the way and read it in bus. I think it will be better if the size can be reduced.

In conclusion, the book is cool and smart. I will recommend it to my friends.

i18n of "design patterns"
2005-02-26 07:15:54 Anonymous Reader
Achim,

On page 26 in the left bubble, you'll find the descriptions of all the sandwiches. They correspond exactly to the names in the right bubble. So C.J.White is the first sandwich in the list on the right, so it corresponds to a "Cream cheese with jelly on white bread".

Regarding the British looking socket and ac adapter - they are British. Silly us, we thought Britain was part of Europe.

We're very glad to hear that the book is helping you! Thanks for the review.

Beth

i18n of "design patterns"
2005-02-18 08:08:43 Achim Rumberger
I want to thank the authors for this book, which helps me a lot achieving new levles in java coding ;)
I have one minor suggestion for the second edition of this book. I would appreciate if the examples you chose for clarifying certain point would be understandable for an international readership - for example I simply didn't get the diner talk on page 26 - what's a 'C.J. White' for example?
Otherwise keep up the good work and have fun.
Achim

p.s.
the socket and the ac adapter shown seemed british to me and not (continental) european :^P
ar

Very Good and I want to say excellent
2005-01-04 22:01:06 pwc
The book broke my inability to grok some of the patterns. I am very appreciative to the authors.

I had not been able to see "inversion of control" or
dynamic proxy before.

The authors should be congratulated for their development and explanation of the patterns. It
was the best, the very best pattern book, I have read.

Sorry, but I didn't really enjoy or find valuable the features such as the crosswords, guru, interviews etc. The cute photos and text to start the chapters such as 5 were good for a chuckle but not worth the space they took up. I skipped over much of the cute/hip/creative stuff. It must have taken a lot of work, but I don't think it was worth it. I focused on the text and the script annotations. What do the say, "No fluff, just stuff". That's my preference but then I am not an artist or an editor.

I liked the design principles and wonder if it
shouldn't be discussed upfront in chapter 1 and then reinforced in subsequent chapters.

I was very
disappointed with the cursory treatment given
to the "other" patterns in chapter 14/appendix.

The book seemed to run out of gas.
Chapters 11,12,13 were hard for me to get thru
and I had found myself eager to read and discover
in the previous chapters. As mentioned before,
the dynamic proxy was most helpful and the explantion of MVC2 clarified my understanding.

Chapter 4 was a heavy chapter. I need to go
back and reread the whole book, but I felt
that 4 was the toughest for me. I wondered
why the abstract factory wasn't presented first.

Some authors also discuss a "Null" Pattern but
that seemed to be viewed as a useful feature
or idiom but not really a pattern.

I hope my somewhat lengthy review might be helpful for a future edition. I got more out of this book than another computer related book in the past year.

I feel like I did after seeing " Lemony Snicket's...", Jim Carey was terrible and he got
in the way of the movie. I felt the "yucks" got in the way of an very good book

One of a Kind Book
2005-01-04 02:17:24 Jens Thiede
This is honestly the best book that I've ever read. Here are my reasons:

1. The writers know their stuff.

2. Thanks to the Head First series, this book explains design patterns in a clear and concise way.

If the book wouldn't contain the detailed illustrations and visual metaphors that not only remain in your brain but explain and refrain from traumatic eye strain, then I believe that 95% of the design pattern students would inherently be failures at the subject.

You don't remember what you do not understand. It's one thing to try remember zen like explanations for a day, it's insane to think that you would remember it for the rest of your life - let alone use it!

3. I love Mac OS 10. :)

A hearty thanks to the Head First crew.

Wow
2004-11-21 21:41:16 C Johnson
I am ashamed to admit this but I felt really dumb after reading and re-reading the GoF and other related pattern books and just not "getting it."

This book feels like cheating because it just does not read like any other computer book I have read before it and it really left an impression. Most importanly it left information I was able to grasp, digest, and use.

I am more inclined to lean towards languages like C and C++ and though Java is the language used for examples I had zero problems understanding and adapting.

I thought I knew OOP. After reading this book I now know what it means to use the OOP paradigm appropriately. I realize that this is a book about design patterns but if you read this review and you are the least bit uneasy about patterns or OOP, save yourself time, energy, sweat and tears and GET THIS BOOK!

This book improved my life and reduced my strife. Writing code is not the chore it had turned out to be for so long thanks to using this learner and the authors command of the material, delivery, and passion for my success in understanding.

Thanks
2004-11-10 20:28:33 Anonymous Reader
Anonymous Reader, the Ferris quote is just brilliant and it describes exactly the kind of experience we want all readers to have!

Eric

P.S. Can we use that quote in the next printing? ;)

Finally, a fun way to learn about design patterns!
2004-11-10 19:39:09 Anonymous Reader
Usually when reading through a book or article on design patterns I'd have to occasionally stick myself in the eye with something just to make sure I was paying attention - until I picked up this book.

The first thing you notice is the pages are not paragraph after paragraph of information. There isn't a single page that doesn't contain a doodle, a sidebar, a picture, or something different. While at times it can be a little distracting, it's in a good way (at least I don't have to poke myself with something sharp anymore).

The chapters cover various design patterns and along the way have exercises such as crossword puzzles or match games to test your understanding. The answers are also included at the end of the chapters - so you don't need to purchase a "Teacher's Edition" on the black market. =)

Typically, books on design patterns are saying, "Buehler... Buehler... Buehler...". This book is belting out "Shake it up, baby!"

Media Reviews

"When I first saw the book, I was skeptical because of the diagrams and cartoon-like cover and inside pages. Text is at a minimum in Head First Design Patterns, with most of the book consisting of diagrams, pictures, Java code snippets, and just a bit of text scattered throughout. But by the time I finished reading three chapters, I was enjoying the visual approach the authors took. The book is written with a sense of humor and feels more like a conversation than a lecture. That's not to say the book doesn't have valuable content—it is just focused content presented in a nontraditional manner... Freeman et al., present 12 patterns in detail and briefly introduce another nine at the end. Overall, I enjoyed how Head First Design Patterns was written and found myself flipping pages and absorbing the combined visual and textual content on the new page and not missing the good old paragraph one bit."
--Gregory Lapouchnian, C/C++ Users Journal, June 2005

" Since the original Design Patterns - Erich Gamma et al (GoF Book), I have been waiting for a book like this, that agrees with my interpretation of GoF and contains well-implemented examples. On the front cover, there is the statement: 'Learn why everything your friends know about Factory pattern is probably wrong'. This is so true!"
--Dr. Heinz Kabutz, JavaSpecialists, August 2005

"...this book won't be a waste of your time or money. Sure, it presented a lot of concepts that I already kinda knew at a gut level, but it did so in a more informative, formal and structured way, the end result of which makes you more cognizant of 'design patterns,' literally. What does this buy you? Well, as the authors point out, it helps you THINK in terms of PATTERNS as you try to solve a problem. And this (I believe) will lead to better overall designs--which will definitely pay big dividends when the time comes for the code to change. And we all know it will."
--Larry Hannay, Amazon.com review, June 2005

"The most serious design issues--presented the easiest way !!! I would highly recommend this to all new comers to OO design/ development. For advanced users; this book can serve as a quick refresher and easy reference to use. The authors have done a remarkable job at presenting the important subject of OO design in a manner all users can follow."
--Chintan Patel, Silicon Valley BEA User Group, , May 2005

"Verdict: Nice! Highly recommended.
A fun book about design patterns? It sounds as likely as a fun book on root canal dentistry. But true to form the team behind O'Reilly's 'Head First…' series have gone ahead and produced a design patterns book that is fun to read, full of useful information and makes learning a pleasure rather than a pain...a very practical book, ideal for developers who are interested in making things work rather than in more abstract theorising...In conclusion, this is a great book for introducing patterns and it earns the TechBookReport seal of approval with flying colours."
--TechBookReport.com, February 2005

"I have to say this is one of the best books on Java programming I have ever read...This is really a breath of fresh air compared to the typical programming book...I was able to retain more information than from most other programming books, and I also learned a lot more because of the book's dynamic style of teaching rather than a simple spoon feeding of static information like most programming books do...I have learned more about object oriented design from this book than from any other book I have ever read on object oriented programming. And not only did I learn more, but I retained far more of what I learned. I am a much better programmer now than I was before I read this book. And there are very few books I can say that about."
--Michael Urban, JavaLobby.org, February 2005

"Head First Design Patterns, authored by Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman, because of its copious and engaging Java examples and clear pictures, is therefore a breakthrough, making this difficult topic accessible to many more programmers. What is also impressive about this book is the many discussions on object-oriented design principles, such as encapsulation, inheritance, coupling, delegation, the open/closed principle and many others...The strong point of this book is the clear descriptions of many of the most popular patterns and their applicability to solving real-world software problems. I highly recommend it to any developers who want to put patterns to work in their own software."
--ObjectsbyDesign.com, December 2004

"Odd as it may sound, this book makes learning about design patterns fun....Other books on design patterns are saying, 'Buehler... Buehler... Buehler...' while this book is on the float belting out 'Shake it up, baby!'"
--E. Wuehler, Amazon.com, November 2004

"If there's one subject that needs to be taught better, needs to be more fun to learn, it's design patterns. Thank goodness for Head First Design Patterns.

From the awesome Head First Java folks, this book uses every conceivable trick to help you understand and remember. Not just loads of pictures: pictures of humans, which tend to interest other humans. Surprises everywhere. Stories, because humans love narrative. (Stories about things like pizza and chocolate. Need we say more?) Plus, it's darned funny.

It also covers an enormous swath of concepts and techniques, including nearly all the patterns you'll use most (observer, decorator, factory, singleton, command, adapter, façade, template method, iterator, composite, state, proxy). Read it, and those won't be 'just words': they'll be memories that tickle you, and tools you own."
--Bill Camarda, from the January 2005 Read Only, The Barnes & Noble Review

"The list of patterns presented is small compared to other books, but this works well since the coverage is more about learning the basic patterns well with a solid understanding...I was particularly impressed how the presentation of each pattern was built on solid Object Oriented concepts. But rather than assuming you know these advanced concepts, they are integrated into the learning exercise and presented as a cohesive bundle. The book is also structured so it refers back to and reinforces both the pattern and OO lessons as you progress. It's hard to find real fault with the book...Beginner or experienced, you better be careful or you might learn something."
--David O'Meara, JavaRanch, November 2004

Advance praise for "Head First Design Patterns":

"I received the book yesterday and started to read it...and I couldn't stop. This is definitely tres 'cool.' It is fun, but they cover a lot of ground and they are right to the point. I'm really impressed."
--Erich Gamma, IBM Distinguished Engineer, and coauthor of "Design Patterns"

"I feel like a thousand pounds of book have just been lifted off my head."
--Ward Cunningham, inventor of the Wiki and founder of the Hillside Group

"This book is close to perfect, because of the way it combines expertise and readability. It speaks with authority and it reads beautifully."
--David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University

"One of the funniest and smartest books on software design I've ever read."
--Aaron LaBerge, VP Technology, ESPN.com

"Head First Design Patternsmanages to mix fun, belly-laughs, insight, technical depth and great practical advice in one entertaining and thought-provoking read. Whether you are new to design patterns or have been using them for years, you are sure to get something from visiting Objectville."
--Richard Helm, coauthor of "Design Patterns"

"A nose dive into the realm of patterns, a land where complex things become simple, but where simple things can also become complex. I can think of no better tour guides than the Freemans."
--Miko Matsumura, Industry Analyst, The Middleware Company; Former Chief Java Evangelist, Sun Microsy6stems

"I laughed, I cried, it moved me."
--Daniel Steinberg, Editor-in-Chief, java.net

"My first reaction was to roll on the floor laughing. After I picked myself, I realized that not only is the book technically accurate, it's the easiest-to-understand introduction to design patterns that I have seen."
--Dr. Timothy A. Budd, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University and author of more than a dozen books, including "C++ for Java Programmers"

"Great code design in, first and foremost, great information design. A code designer is teaching a computer how to do something, and it is no surprise that a great teacher of computers should turn out to be a great teacher of programmers. This book's admirable clarity, humor, and substantial doses of clever make it the sort of book that helps even non-programmers think well about problem solving."
--Cory Docotor, Co-Editor of Boing Boing and author of "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" and "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town."

"Just the right tone for the geeked-out, casual-cool guru coder in all of us. The right reference for practical development strategies--gets my brain going without having to slog through a bunch of tired, stale professor-speak."
--Travis Kalanick, Founder of Scour and Red Swoosh Member of the MIT TR100

Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML

Customer Reviews

Great book for design-mode fujitives
2007-02-01 13:21:54 George Beinhorn
I spent five years designing table-based sites using Dreamweaver's Design Mode, during which I aged 10 years and pulled a bushel of hair. Recognizing at last - doh - that CSS/XHTML would give me wonderful control, I purchased four books and grimly vowed that I would learn HTML or die.

As it turned out, the experience was not grim. Three of the books were quite useful - but this was, by far, the best. (The others were Creating a Web Page With HTML, a really good 126-pg. quick tutorial by Elizabeth Castro; and CSS: The Missing Manual. I found Elizabeth Castro's longer book, HTML, XHTML, & CSS, less useful, as it contained little material that wasn't covered in the other two books).

I was initially a bit dumfounded by the simple language of the Head First book, but quickly accepted the Freemans' explanation of the underlying tested learning principles. And, indeed, I learned better with this book. Occasionally, I'll need to look in the Missing Manual - e.g., it includes more information on workarounds for Internet Explorer. But in all other respects, this is simply a wonderful introduction to HTML for beginners. I think it would also be excellent for designers who want to learn the basics of coding.

I'm still using Dreamweaver, but I'm screaming much less.

Beautiful!
2006-12-13 04:43:39 Anonymous Reader
Too cheap for what it can do :) I just love head first series...

Excellent mesh of html instruction and educational design
2006-12-05 10:57:13 Bill Bridges
As an instructional designer, I spend most of my day (okay, the part of my day when I'm not playing online Mah Jong) trying to design training that will both engage the learner and ensure long-lasting knowledge retention; believe me, it's hard to do both, especially with technical instruction. Sadly, most training materials (especially technical manuals) spew forth an avalanche of terms and jargon, all with the tacit belief that if you want to learn something badly enough, then you will slog through the mire to get that knowledge. When my local Adobe Users Group offered Elisabeth and Eric Freeman's "Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML" to someone for review, I accepted the mission and feared the worst. However, instead of a dry, overly-technical tome that would cure anyone's insomnia, I found a well-written, cleanly-designed book that uses educational design to teach skills in a way that anyone can grasp. More importantly, the book's design makes sure that the information sticks with you.

First and foremost, know that the authors' primary audience is the html novice. (They don't even assume that a reader has a high level of computer proficiency. If you can open your text editor and save files, you're golden.) However, because the book's scope runs from basic html through xhtml, more advanced users can jump into the fray later in the book and still learn a lot. The authors take the reader through basic html- and Web-related terms, stopping to examine how servers and Web sites interact, before plunging into page creation, design, and XHTML.

However, if that was all that could be said about the book, then it would be no more valuable than the five kajillion other html books on the market. No, the true value of Head First HTML is the way in which information is presented. (Amazingly, the authors even explain their educational design in the book's beginning.) They use conversational English to help readers grasp content quicker, as opposed to more traditional manuals that follow the dictate that instruction is only valuable when it's confusing. Additionally, they use images (black-and-white and color pictures, as well as drawings and clip art images) to help visual learners. Best of all, they incorporate hundreds of puzzles and exercises into the book to make sure that not only will you understand what you just read, but you'll be able to use that knowledge. (The application exercises are great because they don't follow the standard multiple choice question model. Studies show that learners are more likely to retain knowledge when they apply it soon after they learn it.)

I cannot say enough good things about Head First HTML. If you want to learn html or the more advanced design elements of xhtml, but have been afraid to take the plunge because of horrid instructional manuals, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

Amazing
2006-09-30 20:27:30 Mike
I, for one, was always interested in learing html and CSS. The only problem is no one knew how to teach it or they told me to <q>Just look at some code and you'll figure it out...</q>. Yeah, well guess what, nothing worked and I was restless for years and years, but then I found this book, and life changed. I can finally code websites from scratch and I am now able to understand all these code sites that give bits and pieces.


Not only does this book teach you the correct way to code, it also explains why. Also, it gives trouble-shooting techniques which have helped me so much already. Thank you for the insanely well written book.

A fun, hip HTML guide for beginners... really!!
2006-08-12 05:44:59 iMightBeWyatt
As amazing as it may seem, Head First HTML is not only an amazing introduction into the world of web design, but also the most interesting and fun book I've read this year!

I started this title with no HTML experience, and found the text immediately accessible. The exercises in the book are frequent- this book expects full audience participation- and I found this hands-on approach to be engaging. Each chapter left me with a "Wow, look what I can do!" feeling.

I would recommend picking up a copy of the CSS Pocket Reference guide with this title.

Media Reviews

"This is one of those cases where you can judge a book by its cover. In addition to the title and author, the cover of Head First HTML with CSS & HTML has seven tag lines, four photos and two drawings. One of the nuggets is, 'A learner's guide to creating standards-based Web pages', which is a pretty good summary of the book and its intended audience…Head First HTML deserves its score of 10… It's clear and thorough, and will be effective both for the complete beginner and in bringing stale skills up to date."
--Graeme Williams, Slashdot.org, February 2006

"When I first picked this up, I thought 'Wait, I've been doing web sites for years. I know a lot about HTML.' Well I was wrong. I learned quite a few things about HTML & CSS I previously was unaware of. Not only does this book contain a wealth of information for any web designer (or beginners wanting to learn more), but it conveys that information in a way that's at times funny, entertaining and informative, all at the same time. This is the kind of book that makes you 'want' to learn, as opposed to 'needing' to learn."
-Todd Hawley, Amazon.com Review, March 2006

"Someone finally wrote a good book on HTML, CSS & XHTML…If you're serious and want to really know how to use HTML, CSS and XHTML - get this book. No others. This one. Really."
--Taran Rampersad, KnowProSE.com, January 2006

"If you've ever had a family member who wanted you to design a website for them, buy them Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. If you've ever asked a family member to design you a web site, buy this book. If you've ever bought an HTML book and ended up using it to level your desk, or for kindling on a cold winter day, buy this book. This is the book you've been waiting for. This is the learning system you've been waiting for."
--Warren Kelly, Blogcritics.org, January 2006

"…I think this book is well worth a purchase for the new web developer or designer. While even the most experienced developer would pick up a trick or two, the book really lends itself to a newbie. The book is about 600 pages and there is value to each page. The games and puzzles are a nice break from the traditional and offer a way to really get the information learned in the chapter to stick. I would easily consider this book the most fun reading I have done about HTML/CSS/XHTML ever."
--Allen Stern, HTML Center, February 2006