* Allen Holub is a highly regarded instructor for the University of California, Berkeley, Extension. He has taught since 1982 on various topics, including Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Java, C++, C. Holub will use this book in his Berkeley Extension classes.

* Holub is a regular presenter at the Software Development conferences and is Contributing Editor for the online magazine JavaWorld, for whom he writes the Java Toolbox. He also wrote the OO Design Process column for IBM DeveloperWorks.

* This book is not time-sensitive. It is an extremely well-thought out approach to learning design patterns, with Java as the example platform, but the concepts presented are not limited to just Java programmers. This is a complement to the Addison-Wesley seminal "Design Patterns" book by the "Gang of Four".