Readings

Required text:

Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides:
"Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software."
Addison-Wesley, Reading MA 1995.
The text is as necessary for a software developer as a dictionary for an English writer.

Dave Thomas:
How to Keep Your Job
Read this every time you are about to complain that you have to learn some new concept in CS: "The half life of engineering knowledge is between 7.5 and 2 years." Bill Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering

Recommended texts:

Felleisen, Findler, Flatt, Krishnamurthi: "How to Design Programs" MIT Press, Cambridge MA 2001

Beck: "Extreme Programming Explained" Addison-Wesley, Reading MA 1999

Fowler, Scott: "UML Distilled" Addison-Wesley, Reading MA 1997

Language references:

If you use Java, please consult the

Java SDK docs for basic information on Java and its libraries;

Thinking in Java for a set of examples;

If you use PLT Scheme, please consult How to Use Scheme for basic information on using Scheme. Also use the Help Desk for specific topics.

If you use English for memos, please consult Strunk and White's "Elements of Style, 3rd edition." It is worth purchasing a copy and keeping it on your desk for the rest of your career.