Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture Volume 2: Patterns for Concurrent and Networked Objects 1st Edition

I read this book briefly in the past. But recently, I have thoroughly re-studied this book in about two months time. The book is an old grandma book in the computer age. But interestingly, the ideas and design principles are still very applicable when working on complex concurrent systems. The patterns described in the book such as Active Object/Proactor/Async Completion Token/Interceptor/Half Sync & Half Async are used extensively in my daily work. By reading the book, I have a new level of understanding on these patterns.That being said, the author has been very wordy when explaining a simple idea and some of the examples are bit confusing. To fully grasp the ideas of the patterns, readers need patience and might have to review it a few times. More importantly, the examples used to illustrate patterns are tightly tied to a particular OS feature and make the pattern less meaningful in a broad sense. In fact, many patterns described in the book can be applied to a wider and more general context. For example, Acceptor/Connector can be applied to telephony application e.g. SIP or P2P communications systems to model the initiator and receiver. The Proactor/Async Completion Token can be applied to build electronic trading system where orders are filled asynchronously, also async operation processor within the Proactor can be implemented in the application level. In addition, the downloadable papers from author's web site explain acceptor/connector and leader/follower patterns (e.g. Bound variant etc) better than the book though the book explains other patterns well.Comparing with GOF book, this book has illustrated some of the architectural level patterns which minimize locking and increase the efficiency for concurrent system. Surprisingly, this book receives much less reviews comparing to GOF design pattern books which is more related to micro level design strategies. I believe that this book is heavily under-rated.After finishing the book, I like the book very much and bought a used one for a much cheaper price than the original $90 so I can have all patterns in one collection. Overall, it is a great book and highly recommended.

With so many patterns books out there written by little pikers who've probably never worked on a codebase of more than a thousand lines, this is a gust of fresh air. The first volume in this series is one of the great patterns books. The only knock I could offer on this book is that it is slanted a little toward the net equivalent of a kernel mechanic: in this day and age of the container as king, not many of us are doing thread locking on sockets (thank you Sun!<g>). That said, these are intelligent examinations of patterns that are very realistic. I just reread the section on asynchronous notification mechanisms and the trade-offs between implementing a 'double observer' and other variations and was struck by the degree to which the material had been thought through and all the logical dependencies intelligently communicated. If you want to see what patterns look like when they are in the hands of seriously bright people, not some book junk of the month JC dropout, tune in here.

Got this as a Christmas gift for my boyfriend. He is reading it at the moment and keeps telling me how much he loves this book. He is going for his PhD in Computer Science and currently doing research with mobile applications. Apparently this book is helping him a lot. Also helps to know his professor is the author of this book.

This is an amazing book. A little dry, but amazing. It will definitely change your way of approaching problems. It is highly recommended that you read the GoF pattern book in parallel with this book.

This is an excellent book, but the patterns (Connector, Acceptor, Acceptor-Connector, Reactor, Proactor, Half Sync-Half Async .....) are all available in MORE expansive (yes more expansive) form on the ACE site.Just Google "ACE Framework" and you will see Doug Schmidt and his ACE related papers section which will conveniently list all the patterns in this book plus a ton more (yes more useful patterns NOT in this book). The related papers are ALL in PDF format and can be loaded into a PDF reader (see Altrix Illiad E-Book reader) or printed out to a bind. The sites PDF editions are extensively longer and more detailed than the book editions, so you are better off going to the site instead.These is indeed an excellent reference, but considering that most of the patterns are now implemented in ACE (see ACE Programmers Guide) or even in Java (see Java 1.5 SE and up in the java.util.concurrent for concurrency).The books C++ Network Programming Vol 1 and Vol 2 are much better and re-visit these patterns from which you can, again, get on the site for free and in a nice color illustrated edition (PDF).Save your $70 and visit the ACE site.

Thanks

Book is in pretty good condition but is clearly used with the previous owns name and a date covered by a white label. A new book should be NEW, not just new to me.