[Tutor] _Object Thinking_, by David West

[Alan Gauld]

> I was in a Barnes & Noble last night looking at _Code Complete_ (2nd
> ed.), mentioned by Mike Hansen recently. I've ordered a cheap copy
> through Amazon.

Classic book and every software engineer should own (and read!)
a copy.

> I also noticed an interesting but difficult book, _Object Thinking_,
by
> David West, (Microsoft Press,  2004). I'm wondering what the tutors
think
> of this book. Here's a link to the book on Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/6zypm

I haven't read it but from the reviews I'd expect:
1) its theoretical rather than practice based, which is normally
   most useful after you have the basics of OOP syntax etc well
   understood
2) It's jumping on the "Agile Methods" bandwagon which is sweeeping
   the industry just now. Agile methods are effective within their
   domain(*), and that domain matches the area where languages like
   Python live, so there might be a good match for readers of this
   group.

But on a cautionary note: theoretical book on OO tend to become
very abstract very quickly, and often don't translate well into
everyday practice. (And I've read a lot of 'em!)

If you want to understand OOP I'd still recommend something like
Timothy Budds classic OOP book or Grady Booch's classic OOA/D first.

But this is purely based on reading the Amazon blurb and I may
well add it to my list of things to read whe I get the time.

Alan G.
(*)And for a good objective study of where that domain is
I recommend Boehm's "Balancing Agility and Discipline".