6 Best Object-Oriented Programming Books and Courses for Beginners in 2024
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Elegant Objects, Clean Code, and many more best books and courses to learn Object-Oriented Programming for Beginners Online
Hello guys, if you want to learn Object-Oriented Programming in Java or any other programming language and looking for the best Object Oriented Programming Books and Courses then you have come to the right place.
Earlier, I have shared best System Design Courses, best Design Pattern courses for experienced developers as well as free OOP Courses and in this article, I am going to share 5 best OOP books for beginners and intermediate programmers alike
The OOP or Object Oriented Programming is one of the most popular programming paradigms that helps you organize code in a real-world system. It’s a tool that allows you to write sophisticated software by thinking about objects and relationships.
Unlike its predecessor procedural Programming paradigm, which is implemented most notably by C, which solves the problem and complete task by writing code for computers, the OOP style of programming allows you to think in terms of real-world objects which have both state and behavior.
You can view anything as an object and then find its state and behaviors; this will help you to simulate that object in code.
Unfortunately, programmers don’t learn OOP, or Procedural, or Functional programming; what they learn is a programming language, and as a side effect, they learn these paradigms. Since many developers learn Java, C++, or Python, they learn OOP, but not in the real sense; hence a college graduate struggles to apply common OOP concepts in practice.
That’s why a professional programmer needs to read a couple of books on Object-Oriented Analysis and design until you learn that there is no use in learning OOP basics, like Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, or Polymorphism. It is the process of applying those principles in practice, which matters.
You also need to learn to make a trade-off, like Why Composition is better than Inheritance and when to use Abstract class over Interface? You should know about cohesion and coupling and learn tips on reducing coupling and cohesion while writing software because those are the key points for writing a maintainable application that can stand the test of time.
These books provide enough guidance to understand those concepts. If you want, you can also combine these books with an online course like Absolute Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming in Java to get the best of both worlds. I bought an excellent course for just $10 on Udemy to brush up on my OOP skills.
6 Books to Learn Object-Oriented Programming, Analysis, and Design in Java and Python
Here is my collection of 5 books to learn object-oriented programming, analysis, and design. This collection contains books for every kind of programmer.
It includes books like Head First Oriented Analysis and design, which is excellent for beginners. It also contains books like “Elegant Objects,” which is thought-provoking and a great read for experienced developers.
The list also contains essential books like “Clean Code” and “Head First Design Patterns,” which will teach you how to write better code by applying OOP and SOLID design principles.
Remember, as a Programmer, your ultimate goal is to write software that is easier to maintain and extend because only one thing is constant in the software world, and that is “CHANGE.”
1. Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
This is the best book to learn object-oriented concepts and fundamentals. You will learn basics like Class, Object, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Abstraction, and Inheritance and advanced concepts like Composition, Delegation, Association, and Aggregation. The book will help you to think in terms of objects to solve the problem.
They will teach you how to associate state and behavior with objects. On top of this, you will really appreciate the Head First style of doing it, which is much more than storytelling.
This is my most recommended book to a beginner programmer who wants to learn OOP and how to apply that in real-world applications. You can also combine this book with the SOLID Principles of Object-Oriented Design course from Pluralsight, which covers OOP design principles explained in this book in more detail.
Since these design principles are really key for writing good, object-oriented code, spending some money on this course is worthwhile.
2. Elegant Objects
I haven’t read anything more exciting than this book in recent times. This book contains 23 practical recommendations for object-oriented programmers to take advantage of object-oriented programming techniques.
By the way, a word of caution, this book is very opinionated, though; the author believes that some things are not right, and hence, it doesn’t follow it.
As per him, static methods, null references, getters, setters, and mutable classes are all evil, which is not correct, in my opinion. There is nothing like 100% OOP application, and there never will be. The real world is all about thought-full compromises and taking the best of everything to do the task most effectively.
Though I really enjoyed reading this book, it definitely helps me think better in terms of objects. I won’t recommend this book to any beginner, though, but it is sort of a must-read for experienced OOP programmers.
If you need a course to go along with this book, I suggest you check out Grokking the Object-Oriented Design Interview course on DesignGuru.io. It’s an interesting, text-based, interactive course to learn bout OOP and OOAD.
3. The Object-Oriented Thought Process
As the name suggests, this book will teach you how to think in terms of Objects. It is another excellent book for beginners to learn OOP concepts and apply them in real-world projects.
It’s an excellent guide for programmers coming from C and other procedural programming languages, where you write instructions for the computer to do the task.
The book will teach you how to build complex systems surrounded by objects by just applying basic OOP concepts. In short, The Object-Oriented Thought process by Matt Weisfeld is a must-read for any beginner who wants to learn Object-Oriented programming.
If you are a Java programmer or want to learn OOP in Java, you can also combine this book with the Object-Oriented Programming in Java Specialization from Coursera. This is one of the most popular Coursera certifications to learn Object-Oriented Programming in Java. More than 70K developers have already joined it.
4. Head First Design Patterns
If I have to say one book that has the most significant impact on my programming career, this is it. I got this book in 2007 when I was a junior developer, fresh from college with just theoretical knowledge of Abstraction, Encapsulation, Class, Object, or Inheritance.
This book taught me why Composition is a better choice than Inheritance in many cases. This book taught me the real use of an interface and how to think about objects by giving names like Flyable to an interface.
Even though this book talks about Design Patterns, which is also a crucial part of object-oriented programming, it is much more than that.
I strongly recommend that any beginner and intermediate programmer read the first two chapters a couple of times to understand object-oriented programming truly.
In short, one of the best books to learn both object-oriented programming and design pattern. If you want, you can also combine this book with the Java Design Patterns — The Complete Masterclass to see some live code examples.
5. Clean Code
This book has helped me a lot in my programming career in terms of coding, object-oriented programming, and writing better code. I read this book when I have a couple of years of experience already, but I realize so many mistakes that I was doing unknowingly when I read it.
This book taught me the real difference between procedural programming and object-oriented programming. It has excellent code examples to show how an object modifies its state and how you can write your procedural code into an object-oriented way, like replacing big switch statements with the polymorphic call using the object-oriented technique.
This is the book, which also teaches the world SOLID design principles based upon OOP concepts. If you genuinely want to learn the power of OOP and wish to write better code, this is the book to read.
And, if you need a course to learn SOLID Design Principle and Clean Code principles, then this Software Architecture (SOLID) & Design Patterns in Java course from Udemy is a great companion.
6. Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming [Book]
So far all the books you have seen used Java as a Programming language to explain and teach you Object-Oriented Programming, while concepts are general its better if you can get the example in the programming language you love to start with and this book does the same for Python programmers.
This is one of the most popular Python Object Oriented PRogramming books by Dusty Philips and In this book, you will learn about essential Python data structures, design patterns, and effective object-oriented techniques
The book provides an in-depth analysis of many common object-oriented design patterns that are more suitable to Python’s unique style and you will also explore many abstract design patterns and implement them in Python 3.8.
Along the way, you will also learn the latest Python syntax and libraries. In short, if you want to learn Object Oriented Programming using Python, this is the book to read. If you need a course to accompany you then Python 3 Programming Specialization from Michigan University on Coursera is a great course to join.
That’s all about some of the best books to learn Object-Oriented Programming, Analysis, and Design. These books are a great resource to learn how to think about objects and how to identify relationships among objects in a complex, real-world scenario.
Though you have to do a lot more than just reading books, if you just want to do one thing is this moment, then go and read the Clean Code.
The best way to learn OOP analysis and design is by writing code and reading code. It’s all about practice; the more you design systems, apply OOP concepts in your problem domain, the more you will learn.
Though, these books will help you to learn concepts and OOP terminology, which will help you to better articulate and express your thoughts in OOP language and UML diagrams, a tool that is used extensively in OOP analysis and design.
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Thanks for reading this article; if you really like my book recommendations, please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any suggestions or feedback, then please drop a note.
P. S. — This is no doubt a difficult topic to master. Sometimes, even after reading these books, you need someone who can actually show you how to apply object-oriented analysis to solve a real-world problem. If you feel the same, you should check out the Advanced Object-Oriented Analysis of Hard Problems using the UML course on Udemy. It’s an advanced course but packed with some handy practical tips and techniques.
