Good in principle, but largely pointless in the real world. Someone with enough motivation to learn to program but no money for professional books is just going to torrent them.
List of freely available programming books
21–30 of 32 posts
Re: List of freely available programming books
#22Dive into Python http://www.diveintopython.net/
That's already on the list, but thanks anyway.
Re: List of freely available programming books
#23Sigh... I guessed even before clicking the stackoverflow link that the topic would be locked/closed. It seems like every time I find something really interesting on stackoverflow I can count on it being closed.
I realize the moderators are trying to restrict things to specific questions with specific answers, but it's damn frustrating. Why can't they find a way to take advantage of the open-ended questions that you really want a community of programmers to answer?
Re: List of freely available programming books
#24This is a lifesaver, just what I was looking for. I tried google searching for something similar, but some how I never found this list, and only found useless links. Thanks.
Re: List of freely available programming books
#25There are several lists like this floating around, but this one is just amazingly comprehensive. Reading a subset of these books (and actually building stuff with the knowledge gained) will most likely provide one with a better education than all but the top-tier computer sci programs. And the cost is $0. Now one might argue that a college cuts down on the time it takes to select courses, find and work with other stu…
I never pursued a comp sci degree in college, and it's possible that you're right, their subject matter is so basic you don't need to actually take classes to learn the content. I guess you could further argue that sites like Hacker News are so good at helping you meet like-minded coders that literally living with people who have the same passions doesn't yield the same reward that it used to. That said: > plus all t…
I agree that these courses were some of the most valuable. For me a course in Eastern Religions was one of the most eye-opening.
However, there's nothing stopping someone from taking these courses later in life (I've known single moms working 50+ hours who make time for education "just for the sake of learning" so no excuses).
I think where we disagree is in requiring people to do one things (liberal arts learning) while their clear priority is to do something else (get a job to survive in this economy). I think that's unfair, even to college students, who can be an admittedly obnoxious bunch. Forced product bundling rarely has the effect it's intended to have. Sure, there may be some people who learn something neat from a class they're forced to take, but there are a lot more who learn nothing and are simply delayed in achieving their goals.
Why should students from poor families be forced to pay for something that economically secure college administrators insist is for their own good when all the student is trying to do is make a better living for himself than his parents had?
In that light forcing students to take these class is rather morally repugnant. It's tantamount to a tax inflicted on people to pay for more product than they want.
Re: List of freely available programming books
#26Whenever I see lists like this, I think: - why doesn't it read "list of good programming books"? (the more the merrier, but how about quality?) - how can such a huge list help anyone? Certainly no-one will read a significant percentage of them. I'm all for free quality content, but these lists seems to be just for collectors.
That would be a great weekend project for someone ;)
If a rating and/or description exists online somewhere, it/they can be retrieved and displayed. Then add a way to make ratings & reviews, give them all some sorting options, and you'll have a nice, useful tool for programmers.
I'd do it, but I already have a long list of weekend projects. :P
Re: List of freely available programming books
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never pursued a comp sci degree in college, and it's possible that you're right, their subject matter is so basic you don't need to actually take classes to learn the content. I guess you could further argue that sites like Hacker News are so good at helping you meet like-minded coders that literally living with people who have the same passions doesn't yield the same reward that it used to. That said: > plus all t…
I agree that these courses were some of the most valuable. For me a course in Eastern Religions was one of the most eye-opening. However, there's nothing stopping someone from taking these courses later in life (I've known single moms working 50+ hours who make time for education "just for the sake of learning" so no excuses). I think where we disagree is in requiring people to do one things (liberal arts learning) w…
Good arguments. I'm extremely fortunate and have been able to attend a costly 4-year college without debt; I have a tendency to take my time here for granted, which I absolutely shouldn't. I feel that it would be wrong of a college that professes to teach a deeper education not to require a breadth of learning from its students, but again, my perspective is unfairly privileged and I'm not thinking in any sort of cost-efficient manner.
Re: List of freely available programming books
#28Whenever I see lists like this, I think: - why doesn't it read "list of good programming books"? (the more the merrier, but how about quality?) - how can such a huge list help anyone? Certainly no-one will read a significant percentage of them. I'm all for free quality content, but these lists seems to be just for collectors.
The books are on different topics. You only read the ones you want to.
Re: List of freely available programming books
#29Whenever I see lists like this, I think: - why doesn't it read "list of good programming books"? (the more the merrier, but how about quality?) - how can such a huge list help anyone? Certainly no-one will read a significant percentage of them. I'm all for free quality content, but these lists seems to be just for collectors.
I tried to compile such list in past, see http://www.strchr.com/links
Re: List of freely available programming books
#30Whenever I see lists like this, I think: - why doesn't it read "list of good programming books"? (the more the merrier, but how about quality?) - how can such a huge list help anyone? Certainly no-one will read a significant percentage of them. I'm all for free quality content, but these lists seems to be just for collectors.
It does help me. Decent data for a topic-specific search engine, NLP, etc.
What I usually do when it comes to finding good books is hitting amazon and see the reviews and recommendations. But I already have a big stack of great books that I should finish instead of wasting too much time looking for more.