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James Cooper Senior programmer, text analytics "I try to read a new book every week or two" |
On the book: Java Design Patterns: A Tutorial (2000)
What made you decide to write a book on this topic?
I knew that Design Patterns were very important, and it is generally accepted that if you want to learn about a topic, you should give a course in it. So, in this case, I decided to write a book about Design Patterns to explain them to myself.
How did you go about the research necessary to write such a book?
First, I read the available books and articles and talked to well known local experts, including (the late) John Vlissides. Equally important, I begin writing and expanding programming examples, and learning exactly what these patterns meant by seeing them in action. It occurred to me that this was the approach I'd use in writing the book itself.
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What are the greatest challenges to you as an author?
Finding the large blocks of time it takes to write
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Write about something you know a lot about, or something you want to know a lot more about.
Who are some of your favorite authors today?
Isaac Asimov, PD James, KC Constantine, Dorothy Sayers, John Updike, William Greider, John Leonard, Frank Rich, Walter Mosely, Graham Greene.
What role did books play in your childhood?
I read constantly and still do. As a child, I went to the library more than once a week for new books. I continue to read fiction, nonfiction and political commentary every day.
Other books by James Cooper
C# Design Patterns: A Tutorial. Addison-Wesley, 2002 (also in Japanese and Chinese).
Visual Basic Design Patterns: VB6 and VB.Net, Addison-Wesley, 2001 (also in Polish, Japanese and Chinese).
Java Design Patterns: A Tutorial, Addison-Wesley, 2000 (also in Japanese, Polish and Korean)
Principles of Object-Oriented Programming in Java 1.1, Ventana/Coriolis, 1997
The Visual Basic Programmer’s Guide to Java, Ventana/Coriolis, 1996
Object Oriented Programming in Visual Basic, Pinnacle, 1995
A Jump Start Course in C++ Programming, (with Richard B. Lam), Wiley-Interscience, 1994.
Visual BASIC for DOS: Building Scientific and Technical Applications, Wiley-Interscience, 1993.
Writing Scientific Programs Under the OS/2 Presentation Manager, Wiley-Interscience, 1990.
Microsoft QuickBASIC for Scientists, Wiley-Interscience, 1988.
The Laboratory Microcomputer, Wiley-Interscience, 1984.
The Minicomputer in the Laboratory, 2nd edition, Wiley-Interscience, 1983.
Introduction to Pascal for Scientists, Wiley-Interscience, 1981.
Spectroscopic Techniques for Organic Chemists, Wiley-Interscience, 1980.
The Minicomputer in the Laboratory, Wiley-Interscience, 1977