Of all the books that have sought to explain object-oriented, component-based development, this one is unique in its clarity. MIT Professor Barbara Liskov presents a start-to-finish methodology for constructing reliable, understandable, easy-to-maintain Java software.
Developers will learn exactly how to decompose a programming problem into its key elements, and then build an optimal program from independent modules -- crucial for success in large-scale, team development projects. Liskov masterfully introduces key concepts of abstraction, specification, and object-oriented design in the context of small programs; then scales the techniques up to enterprise-class development, where they work equally well. The book includes detailed coverage of developing and writing accurate specifications; optimizing tradeoffs between simplicity and performance; and making code easier to evaluate, debug, and test. In the second half of the book, Liskov focuses on modular development of large-scale programs: discovering useful abstractions, program design, analysis, implementation, testing, and the value of design patterns. All examples are based on Java (though the concepts are equally applicable to any object-based language).
