Design Patterns... Where to start? (Some real-world samples)

Question

I'm kind of new to the design patterns concept.
C# is my primary programming language. (I use VB from time to time). I don't want to write sloppy code which is inflexible, not extendable and buggy.
Whenever I see a design pattern in action, I enjoy the logic behind it and understand it well, But unfortunately, I'm having trouble implementing them in my projects.

You see, there are a lot of design patterns (120+ I think) and I am sort of lost among them when I want to decide which one to use.
When it comes to use them in action, I have no idea what to choose.
All I get from tutorials are some fairly simple code snippets which is far away from the production environment. except DDD pattern which I have managed to learn it well since There are at least 2 good books and many resources about it.

Now my question:
Is there anywhere that I can find some real samples using various design patterns? At least some "more practical" samples. Do you know anywhere that I can find such books/samples/resources for other patterns as well?
Thanks.

Answer 1

I'd start with the Head First Design Patterns book. It's not nearly as complicated as some of the other books and is meant to be a learning experience instead of a reference.

Much better for learning from scratch in my opinion. Head First books are pretty good about presenting the material in interesting ways and do a nice job of keeping you interested. This book also tries to tie in each pattern to a pseudo real-life example. Their examples might not be pertinent to what you are working on, but they at least deal with the same types of issues as real world problems (I think the first example deals with writing a duck simulation video game).

Also Head First Design Patterns focuses on cramming your brain with as many patterns as possible so you can recognize when you are in a situation to use one and be well equipped enough to at least get started. This is where a specific reference, such as the GoF book might come in handy.

However, keep in mind that Head First books typically focus on complete beginners. Their books don't make for good learning materials after you reach the intermediate stage in a given topic.