5 Books and Courses to Learn Object Oriented Programming in Depth

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Hello friends, The OOP or Object Oriented Programming is one of the most popular programming paradigms which is used in Software development industry and helps you to organize code in the real-world system.

It's a tool that allows you to write sophisticated software by thinking in terms of 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 step by step code for computers, the OOP style of programming allows you to think in terms of real-world objects which has both state and behavior.

The idea of object oriented programming is that you can view anything as objects and then find their 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 of that, 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 struggle to apply common OOP concepts in practice.

That's why it's essential for a professional developer to read a couple of books on Object-Oriented Analysis and design until you learn that how OOP basics like Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, or Polymorphism help you write better code. 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 also know about cohesion and coupling and learn tips on how to reduce coupling and cohesion while writing software because those are the key point for writing a maintainable application which can stand the test of time.

These best object oriented programing books provides enough guidance to understand those concepts and if you want you can also combine these books with an online course like Python OOP - Object Oriented Programming for Beginners  to get the best of both worlds. It's an excellent course that I bought in just $10 on Udemy to brush up my OOP skills.

Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an experienced programmer seeking to hone your OOP skills,these books and courses will help you learn fundamental concepts, design patterns, and best practices in the world of OOP.

Get ready to level up your programming skills and unlock the full potential of OOP!

Top 5 Books to Learn OOP, Analysis, and Design with Python and Java

Here is my collection of 5 books to learn object-oriented programming, analysis, and design. This collection contains books for every kind of programmer like it includes books like Head First Oriented Analysis and design, which is excellent for beginners, and it also contains books like "Elegant Objects," which is thought to provoke 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, 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 not only learn basics like Class, Object, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Abstraction, and Inheritance but also 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.

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2. Head First Design Patterns [2nd Edition]

If I have to say one book which has the most significant impact on my programming career, then this is it. I got this book in 2007 when I was a junior developer, fresh from college with just theoretical knowledge of what is Abstraction, Encapsulation, Class, Object, or Inheritance. Now the second edition of Head First Design pattern is available which is updated for Java.

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 in terms of objects by giving names like Flyable to an interface.

Even though books talk about Design Patterns, which is also a crucial part of object-oriented programming, it is much more than that.

I strongly recommend any beginner and intermediate programmer to read the first two chapters a couple of times to truly understand object-oriented programming,

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.

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3. Clean Code

This is another book that 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 when I read, I realize so many mistakes that I was doing unknowingly.

This book taught me the real difference between procedural programming and object-oriented programming.

It has got excellent code example to show how 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.

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4. 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.

This book is very opinionated, though; the author has a strong opinion on 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 and it definitely helps me to think better in terms of objects. I won't recommend this book to any beginner, though, but it is sort of must-read for experienced OOP programmers.

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5. 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 how to 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 you can 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 want, you can also combine this book with the Grokking the Object Oriented Design Interview on Educative.io to learn OOP from interview perspective.

It's a great resource to learn how to use OOP to design complex real world system at the same time prepare you for OOP design questions from interviews.

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 in terms of 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.

Alos, 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.

Other Recommended books and Courses for Programmers and Software Engineers.

• 10 Books Every Programmer should Read 
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• 10 Algorithm Books for enthusiastic Programmers 
• 5 Essential Books to Improve your Coding Skills 
• Top 5 Data Structure and Algorithm Books for Java Programmers
• Top 5 Books to learn OOP Design Patterns
• Best Core Java Books for Programmers
• Top 5 Books to Learn SQL and Database design
• Top 5 Courses to learn Design Patterns in Java
• Top 5 Courses to learn Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
• 20+ System Design Interview Questions
• Top 5 Object Oriented Design Interview Questions 

Thanks for reading this article, if you really like my object oriented programming and design book recommendations, then please share with your friends and colleagues too. If you have any suggestions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. - This is no doubt a difficult topic to master and 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 really useful practical tips and techniques.