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Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

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Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#91

Post by silentbicycle »

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #80
silentbicycle wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plus I find when a book has typos (either in the text or in the code), that just makes me engage with it a little bit more. Really? I wasted almost an hour double-checking my code due to a typo in an algorithm in _Programming Collective Intelligence_ (pg. 35, should end in "return num/den", not "return 1.0-num/den".) That's just sloppy. I added it to the errata page ( http://oreilly.com/catalog/errataunconfirmed.cs…

that book is full of errors =/ I'm not a regular python user, but I've also heard that the code contained within the book is not very "pythonic" and is really meant as a pseudocode. still no excuse for it to be incorrect. when a book has typos, it makes me want to throw it in the fire.

I'm a bit rusty on subtleties of standard Python style these days (I mostly switched to Lua around Python 2.5 or so), but I got the same impression. Still, the conceptual explanations in the book are pretty good.

Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#92

Post by djhworld »

eliben wrote: post #24

"Coders at Work" is very well written and flows like a good novel. You must be a real hardcore hacker to enjoy it, though :) [Edit: I've actually posted a short review of it after I finished reading it - http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2010/01/09/book-review-coders-a... ]

I finished reading this today, really enjoyable book, very insightful and often thought provoking - it's nice to hear topics from people who have differing perspectives.

Not sure what you mean by hardcore hacker though, unless you mean....most of the programmers in the book come from an era where assembly code and primitive machines were the only tools they had?

Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#95

Post by gruseom »

silentbicycle wrote: post #40
eliben wrote: post #24

"Coders at Work" is very well written and flows like a good novel. You must be a real hardcore hacker to enjoy it, though :) [Edit: I've actually posted a short review of it after I finished reading it - http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2010/01/09/book-review-coders-a... ]

The interviews are thought-provoking, particularly the ones with Peter Norvig and Joe Armstrong. Seibel expands on some recurring themes on his blog ( http://gigamonkeys.wordpress.com/category/books/coders-at-wo... ). My wife also liked _Coders at Work_, though she has a lot of experience doing interviews for documentaries, and there were a couple times she was frustrated about comments Seibel should have pursued fur…

I wish Arthur Whitney had been in _Coders at Work_.

I nominated him but he fell through the cracks. I think the book is weaker for it.

There's a wonderful story (which you probably know but it's worth repeating) that Roger Hui, the J guy, was asked who the best programmer was. He responded by saying that Peggy Lee was once asked who the best jazz singer was and she responded, "You mean besides Ella?" (By analogy, Roger's answer was "You mean besides Arthur?")

Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#96

Post by l0nwlf »

drallison wrote: post #15

Programming books are rarely page turners. I cannot think of one book to add to the (currently empty) list here. I find most programming books to be boring and discursive. Far too many fall into a pattern not too far removed from romance novels where, inevitably, the alpha male hero beds the heroine by chapter three. And if software engineering is considered programming, many of those books seem to be anchored in the…

> I find most programming books to be boring and discursive.

I was of the same opinion until I read "Programming Pearls" by Jon bentley. The way it opens up a problem statement, thereby making you think is truly fascinating. If you haven't read it, please do.

Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#98

Post by silentbicycle »

gruseom wrote: post #95
silentbicycle wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The interviews are thought-provoking, particularly the ones with Peter Norvig and Joe Armstrong. Seibel expands on some recurring themes on his blog ( http://gigamonkeys.wordpress.com/category/books/coders-at-wo... ). My wife also liked _Coders at Work_, though she has a lot of experience doing interviews for documentaries, and there were a couple times she was frustrated about comments Seibel should have pursued fur…

I wish Arthur Whitney had been in _Coders at Work_. I nominated him but he fell through the cracks. I think the book is weaker for it. There's a wonderful story (which you probably know but it's worth repeating) that Roger Hui, the J guy, was asked who the best programmer was. He responded by saying that Peggy Lee was once asked who the best jazz singer was and she responded, "You mean besides Ella?" (By analogy, Rog…

You've probably seen this ACM Queue interview with Arthur Whitney (http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1531242), but just in case.

I submitted it to HN, as well. (I thought I had already.)

Re: Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?

#100

Post by silentbicycle »

l0nwlf wrote: post #96
drallison wrote: post #15

Programming books are rarely page turners. I cannot think of one book to add to the (currently empty) list here. I find most programming books to be boring and discursive. Far too many fall into a pattern not too far removed from romance novels where, inevitably, the alpha male hero beds the heroine by chapter three. And if software engineering is considered programming, many of those books seem to be anchored in the…

> I find most programming books to be boring and discursive. I was of the same opinion until I read "Programming Pearls" by Jon bentley. The way it opens up a problem statement, thereby making you think is truly fascinating. If you haven't read it, please do.

The sequel (_More Programming Pearls_) is good, too. Judging by the discrepancy between the used prices of PP (~$20) and MPP (has a sequel.
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