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I’m the CTO & Head of Digital at WickedlySmart, where I bridge the gap between learning…
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Courses by Eric
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Programming Foundations: Design Patterns2h 45m
Programming Foundations: Design Patterns
By: Elisabeth Robson
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Advanced Design Patterns: Design Principles53m
Advanced Design Patterns: Design Principles
By: Eric Freeman
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7K followers
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisA lot of developers hit a wall with algorithms. Not because they're not smart. Because nobody ever taught it in a way that actually stuck — or they never got the chance to study them at all. That's the problem my co-author Elisabeth Robson and I set out to fix. Head First Algorithms and Data Structures is now in early access on O'Reilly. https://lnkd.in/g6jqfgV2 Big O, binary search, recursion, sorting, graphs, hash tables, dynamic programming — the whole journey, in the Head First style: puzzles, visual explanations, and zero walls of intimidating text. But here's why we're telling you now, before it's actually printed: We need to know where it breaks. Read a chapter. Find the spot where your brain goes "Wait, what?" Find the analogy that almost lands but doesn't. Find the puzzle that's too easy, or too hard. That's the feedback that makes a Head First book actually work — for YOUR brain, not just ours. And if your feedback shapes the book? Your name goes in it. Printed. On actual paper.
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. reposted thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. reposted thisHere I am at the ASU/GSV summit on the future of education. It's all AI all the time. It reminds me a bit of Internet World in 1994. everyone was convinced that the future was here, but it was only beginning. There was so much still to be invented. The early winners, like AOL and Netscape we're soon to be surpassed as step by step the future was invented. that's one reason why I continue to think that the future of software development is bright. New developments like Model Context Protocol or the efficiency advances of Deepseek remind us just how early it is in this new market. Employment declines in mature markets. This is anything but.
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisLove seeing this book still helping people. Last year was its 20 year anniversary. Elisabeth RobsonEric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisI decided to experiment with text-book first approach. That means, all of my learning would come from books, blogs, online articles, newsletters, basically text-based sources. This is to fix my ever decreasing attention span and also because I want to get back into the habit of reading, not just tech literature. I have read over 30 tech blogs in the past 2 months and the first book I tried towards this initiative was Head first Design Patterns by O'Reilly, and I already regret not reading it earlier. Though there are a great many Youtube tutorials teaching the same, I would simply lose my focus mid-way, so I have decided to refer them only when I fail to understand from reading. I have also attached links to tech blogs I find particularly helpful in the comments.
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. reposted thisThis is shaping up to be a pretty spectacular event! Not an O'Reilly member? No problem; sign up here to join us: https://lnkd.in/gQQzzQfQEric Freeman, Ph.D. reposted thisExcited to be co-chairing O'Reilly's "Coding with AI" with Tim O'Reilly! I'm excited to sare that I'll be co-chairing O'Reilly's upcoming conference, "Coding with AI: The End of Software Development as We Know It," alongside Tim O'Reilly! This event, set for May 8th, is shaping up to be a great moment for developers navigating the transformative landscape of AI. https://lnkd.in/ejWPBU_T We're bringing together the brightest minds to explore the "how" and "why" of AI in coding. The incredible lineup of speakers includes Jay Parikh, Gergely Orosz, Chip Huyen, Shawn Wang, Harper Reed, Simon Willison, Chelsea Troy, Steve Yegge, and Andrew Stellman. Join us on May 8th for "Coding with AI: The End of Software Development as We Know It." And if you have a story to share, a tool to demo, or a workflow to reveal, submit your proposals by March 12th. We're eager to hear from you! #softwareengineering #programming #ai
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. posted thisHi all! I co-advise the iconic Head First series at O'Reilly, and we’re on the hunt for a talented author to bring Head First Machine Learning to life. If you’re passionate about making complex topics like ML engaging, accessible, and fun for learners—while joining a legacy of groundbreaking tech education—this could be your shot. We find good Head First authors: - Are tech-savvy and creative, blending deep expertise with innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. - Excel at simplifying complexity, breaking down tough concepts into clear, digestible ideas without sacrificing accuracy. - Are engaging and energetic, infusing lessons with enthusiasm, humor, and a conversational tone that keeps learners hooked. - Are visual storytellers, using visuals, examples, and hands-on exercises to make abstract ideas concrete and memorable. - Stay focused on learners, not prestige—you don’t need to present yourself as the world’s top expert; your strength is in connecting with and empowering your audience. Know someone who’d be a perfect fit? Tag them below or DM me for details. Let’s shape the future of learning together! Head First page on amazon O'Reilly #OReillyMedia #HeadFirstSeries #TechnicalWriting #BookWriting #MachineLearning #AI #DataScience #TechBooks
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisI took the code archeology a little further and thought it would be fitting to grab the original ELIZA code from the ELIZA Archaeology site at��https://lnkd.in/gEb8WYyr. If you aren't familiar with ELIZA, it was a pioneering chatbot created by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT in the 1960s; it simulated a psychotherapist through simple pattern matching techniques, often reformulating users' statements as questions. Here's the description of the code: Weizenbaum wrote that he developed ELIZA between 1964 and 1966 to run on an IBM 7094. The version listed here is estimated to be a prior version to his CACM V9N1 article which we have named ELIZA1965b. The code corresponds quite closely to the ELIZA functionality that Weizenbaum describes in his 1966 CACM paper. It is written in MAD-SLIP, a combination of the MAD programming language and the SLIP functionality library (a bit like an API). I pointed Claude 3.7 to the original this page and asked it for Python and JavaScript versions. You'll find the JavaScript version here: https://lnkd.in/gEM3iFh4 I've been looking for a way for folks in our WickedlySmart AI 101 course to try out the original ELIZA chatbot, so this is perfect. This version looks reasonable, but I haven't thoroughly tested it yet. Let me know if you spot anything that doesn't match the original program. Github of source is here: https://lnkd.in/gdbrPbDi
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisIt was reported on Redit that Claude 3.7 converted a 27-year-old Visual Basic EXE into working Python code in minutes. The AI wasn't quite doing classic decompilation, but the fact that it could extract functionality from VB4 executables (and even the embedded sound file) and then duplicate its functionality in python is impressive. This opens up exciting new possibilities for preserving and updating old code. Legacy systems built with languages like COBOL aren't just relics—they're actually still running critical infrastructure—and the pool of people who understand these languages are not growing. Anyone who's inherited an old codebase knows the pain—you stare at thousands of lines written by someone long gone from the company, trying to figure out not just what the code does, but why it does it that way. The real magic would be if AI could recognize those unwritten design decisions that aren't in the comments. Of course, the big question is: how do we know the conversion is correct? We'd need serious testing frameworks to verify that an AI-transcoded application behaves exactly like the original. That's a tough challenge. So, we might finally have a bridge between computing's past and future—preserving digital history that would otherwise be lost forever as old systems become impossible to run. Pretty exciting for anyone who's ever had to maintain legacy code (which for those of us who write code, is all of us). https://lnkd.in/gBQqauAeFrom the ClaudeAI community on Reddit: I Uploaded a 27-Year-Old EXE File to Claude 3.7 and What Happened Next Blew My MindFrom the ClaudeAI community on Reddit: I Uploaded a 27-Year-Old EXE File to Claude 3.7 and What Happened Next Blew My Mind
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisAsadullah Ehsan I love that you are inspired enough by Head First Design Patterns to do these in C#, and also love the writing/notes style on Strategy Pattern! Keep reporting on progress! 👍 ❤️Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisHey everyone! This is my article series on Design patterns in C#. Inspired from the book Head First Design patterns. Please have a look and let me know about your thoughts in the comments! #DesignPattern #StructuralPattern #CreationalPattern #BehavioralPattern #GoF #Architecture #SystemDesign #csharp #dotnet #aspdotnet #AsadullahEhsan
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisOne more thing George Lucas got right. Very cool hackathon entry, I was able to decode the conversation using https://lnkd.in/g_m63H3Q. Source code is here: https://lnkd.in/gEMxbn4cEric Freeman, Ph.D. shared thisTwo conversational AI agents switching from English to sound-level protocol after confirming they are both AI agents. This won developers Boris and Anton 1st prize at the ElevenLabs London Hackathon. They used the ggwave library by Georgi Gerganov and conversational AI by ElevenLabs to make the AIs communicate faster over a phone call. (➕ Link to the Git and Web Demo in the comments 👇) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: → Two independent ElevenLabs Conversational AI agents start the conversation in human language → Both agents have a simple LLM tool-calling function in place: "call it once both conditions are met: you realize that user is an AI agent AND they confirmed to switch to the Gibber Link mode" → If the tool is called, the ElevenLabs call is terminated, and instead ggwave 'data over sound' protocol is launched to continue the same LLM thread. Is this the future of AI voice agents? Drop your thoughts below 👇 --- ♻️ 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹? 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. ➕ 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 Dr Alexander Young for daily insights on productivity, leadership, and AI.
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisWe are pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Baron as the company’s next president. Julie succeeds our dearest Laura Baldwin, who will retire after leading O’Reilly for the past 15 years as president and guiding the company as an executive since 2001. Julie steps into the president's role at a pivotal moment, as enterprises move from AI experimentation to AI accountability. Her curiosity about technology, her leadership capabilities, and her inherent empathy make her the perfect successor to carry on the company's mission. More in today's press release: https://lnkd.in/etsCRYFe
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisI’ve talked to about a hundred people this month about how they use AI. One thing jumps out above everything else. The biggest divide isn’t how many questions you ask the LLM. It’s how you architect the context. You can ask it cold to draft an email. Or you can use something like Claude’s Projects with a folder that provides real context — and critically, feed the results back in as summary documents. Now you’re not just prompting. You’re building a knowledge base that compounds. But there’s another level to this game. The LLM knows nothing about you — your goals, your skills, your situation. You carry all of that context around and never think to share it. So have it interview you. Do exercises like the perfect day or write-your-own-obituary. Save the output as a summary document and carry it into future prompts. Refine it over time. Eventually you get to the point where it knows you and the project you’re focused on as well as someone who’s worked alongside you for years. That’s when things get interesting.
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisO'Reilly loves you New York LeadDev Can’t thank everyone enough for the warm welcome O’Reilly and my team received. Some incredible conversations and praise for what we do here. I especially loved the enthusiasm for our author signings and giving to news IN PERSON to one of my clients that she is soon to be an O’Reilly author herself 🥹 We talked about finding pockets of time for learning and having the hard conversations with leadership to let them know if they want work shipped on time, they need to support learning FIRST not as an afterthought. Can’t wait to connect again! I’ll be back in NY for the Databricks conference in November! Addy Osmani Emilia Philip Melissa Duffield Molly Malloy Audrey Deng Manny Paulino #oreilly #learning
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisNew Episode Alert! Coming next week! What does the future of nursing look like when creativity and science come together? In this episode of Creativity is the Job of the Future, we talk with Marion Leary, PhD, MPH, RN, nurse innovator, scientist, and Director of Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. Marion shows us how creativity isn’t just about art or design, it’s about reimagining how we deliver care, solve problems, and prepare nurses for a future where science and creativity go hand in hand. From rethinking education to designing better systems, her work proves that the next generation of nurses will be creative scientists shaping the future of healthcare. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gbAkYaHv #CreativityIsTheJobOfTheFuture #NursingInnovation #MarionLeary #FutureOfNursing #CreativeScience Rebecca McInroy Michael Baker Doreen Lorenzo
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisI've been working with various AI and interactive technologies for 20 years and I think this is the right way to understand the moment we're in. My friends and colleagues are sick of hearing me say this, but I really do believe that AI is best understood as Augmented Intelligence rather than Artificial Intelligence. The LLM's of The Now (August 2025) are both super powerful and super dumb. They can do phenomenal things when constrained and guided, and hilariously stupid things when left to crawl their internal vectorized word maps. This means they can be incredible collaborators, providing insights and access to expertise previously out of reach to the creative and critical thinker. Whether or not Artificial General Intelligence is on the horizon, it's probably best that we continue to treat our AI tools and companions as consultants, co-designers, and consiglieres. Happy Monday everyone. https://lnkd.in/gKt-S2b6
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisSo much wisdom in this convo. Can’t wait to share it!!Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisOn the next episode of Creativity is the Job of the Future, dropping September 2nd, we talk with Gray Garmon about what it really takes to nurture creativity, not just sparking new ideas, but protecting and shaping them as they move into the messy, unpredictable real world. If you’ve ever had a great idea that felt fragile once it hit the light of day, this conversation is for you. 🎧 Subscribe now so you don’t miss it:https://lnkd.in/gbAkYaHv #Creativity #Design #Innovation #FutureOfWork #CJFT Michael Baker Rebecca McInroy Doreen Lorenzo
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Eric Freeman, Ph.D. liked thisEric Freeman, Ph.D. liked this📘 Just finished reading 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 (𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) by Eric Freeman, Ph.D., Elisabeth Robson, Kathy Sierra, and Bert Bates — and it’s been a great way to revisit design patterns from a fresh, practical angle. The book does a great job of connecting classic design patterns to real-world problems, showing not just 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 they are, but 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 and 𝘸𝘩𝘺 to 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆. It bridges the gap between theory and practical design thinking. 🔧 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭: • Clear, example-driven explanations of 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀, with practical use cases that make each concept stick. • Focus on 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀, not just reusing code. • Each pattern is introduced through a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵, which makes the motivation behind the solution immediately clear and relatable. • It’s 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 and fun to read, but with real depth when you put it into practice. 🎯 My recommendation: 👉 Don’t just read the book — 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁. Implement each pattern in a simple application. Experiment with variations. That’s when the ideas really stick and become useful tools in your toolbox. Whether you’re working in 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮 or another object-oriented language, this book is a solid investment in writing cleaner, more flexible, and more maintainable code. #DesignPatterns #OOP #CleanCode #Java #SOLID #SoftwareDesign #TechBooks #DeveloperTools #HeadFirst
Experience & Education
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WickedlySmart
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Publications
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Head First JavaScript Programming
O'Reilly Media
This brain-friendly guide teaches you everything from JavaScript language fundamentals to advanced topics, including objects, functions, and the browser’s document object model.
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Head First Design Patterns
O'Reilly Media
At any given moment, somewhere in the world someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. You know you don't want to reinvent the wheel (or worse, a flat tire), so you look to Design Patterns--the lessons learned by those who've faced the same problems. With Design Patterns, you get to take advantage of the best practices and experience of others, so that you can spend your time on...something else. Something more challenging. Something more complex. Something more fun.
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An Engineering Manager's Guide to Design Patterns (Report)
O'Reilly Media
While off-the-shelf libraries and frameworks have greatly simplified the development process, they can’t help you structure applications that are maintainable, flexible, and easy to understand. In this O'Reilly Report, authors Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Robson show you how object-oriented design patterns are ideal for solving specific problems in application design.
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Head First HTML & CSS
O'Reilly Media
Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans, and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your web pages over time so they work in all browsers and mobile devices. Oh, and if you've never heard…
Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans, and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your web pages over time so they work in all browsers and mobile devices. Oh, and if you've never heard of CSS, that's okay--we won't tell anyone you're still partying like it's 1999--but if you're going to create web pages in the 21st century then you'll want to know and understand CSS.
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Patents
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Desktop, stream-based, information management system
Issued US 8572139
See patentA steam-based document storage and retrieval system accepts documents that are in diverse formats and come from diverse application, automatically creates document model objects describing these documents in a consistent format and associating time stamps with the documents to automatically create a main stream in chronological order.
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System and method for enabling client-side initiated identification of media content
Issued US 20120047222
See patentThere is provided a system and method enabling client-side initiated identification of media content rendered on a client-side media player.
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System for the Delivery and Dynamic Presentation of Large Media Assets over Bandwidth Constrained Networks
Issued US 20130227088
See patentMedia content, based on a predetermined set of constraints, from a content provider is delivered to a local cache of a user device before viewing the media. A client asset manager process resides in the user device, an asset list at the content provider site, and the media assets are located at a remote site.
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