Ray Tracing in a Weekend(https://raytracing.github.io/books/RayTracingInOneWeekend.ht...) is an incredible guide to work through to write a basic functioning ray tracer.
Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
11–20 of 188 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#12I don't know if linking to one's own work is considered gauche here, but since it fits with the original question, my own book Practical Microservices fits this description (https://pragprog.com/book/egmicro/practical-microservices). It takes the reader from inception of a projection to a functioning system, explaining the basics of microservices, event sourcing, and CQRS along the way. Each chapter builds on the previous ones.
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#13Embedded Systems: Introduction to Arm® Cortex™-M Microcontrollers
It's a pretty good introduction to embedded programming, with several projects included. Valvano's course at University of Texas is also available as a MOOC.
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#14I can recommend https://www.railstutorial.org/book for Ruby on Rails. It's practical and concise and there's not a lot of unnecessary fluff.
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#15Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, where the reader implements a Lisp
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#16My own free, open-source Computer Graphics book guides you through building both a raytracer and a rasterizer: https://gabrielgambetta.com/computer-graphics-from-scratch
Soon to become a real book published by No Starch Press!
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#17Not quite what you're talking about but the best book on car mechanics I ever read... It was red, and textbook-sized, hardcover. Lots of drawings.
It literally started with an explosion in a can, and then progressively enhanced that idea step-by-step: add a lid to the can to capture the energy, add a lever to keep the can lid from flying away, and then attach the lever to a wheel so that it returns the lid to the top of the can for another explosion, add walls to guide the lid, ta-da! Piston.
It goes on like that, adding each piece of the puzzle in a logical way, until you have a mental model of an internal combustion engine. You definitely feel like you could build one from scratch (if you had the metallurgy skill.)
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#18"Deep Learning for Programmers: Interactive Programming for Artificial Intelligence"
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#19My book from O'Reilly ("Building Tools with GitHub") builds a variety of applications using the GitHub API in five different languages (Ruby, JavaScript, Python, C#, Java on Android). All the chapters build a complete project (app on Android for writing blogs with Jekyll for example).
You can buy it or read it free online (thanks again to O'Reilly for allowing us to release it under creative commons):
https://buildingtoolswithgithub.teddyhyde.io/
No prior experience with the languages are required, so it is good for a beginner wanting to dip their toes into that language and/or facet of the API.
Re: Ask HN: What are some books where the reader learns by building projects?
#20Not quite what you're talking about but the best book on car mechanics I ever read... It was red, and textbook-sized, hardcover. Lots of drawings. It literally started with an explosion in a can, and then progressively enhanced that idea step-by-step: add a lid to the can to capture the energy, add a lever to keep the can lid from flying away, and then attach the lever to a wheel so that it returns the lid to the top…
Boy if you could find the name of that book I'd really appreciate it