In my previous post I was comparing how I found reading the GoF book versus Head First Design Patterns. As I said, I found them both useful and was especially impressed with the Head First book for explaining the patterns in a way I could relate to.

However, now that I have an initial understanding of each pattern and when it could be applied, I have found no better reference than SourceMaking. The website gives a readable, concise explanation of each pattern including diagrams, applications and rules of thumb, as well as clearly relating it to other patterns which might be relevant to the same problem. It also includes coded examples in several languages, in some cases with a listing for the solution both before and after the design pattern was used.

The site is being used to promote an ebook and series of video tutorials, which could be a great resource, but at $49.99 I can’t really afford to find out right now. If anyone has checked these out, I’d love it if you could let me know what you thought.