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Quirky computing books

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Re: Quirky computing books

#21

Post by epolanski »

7thaccount wrote: post #12
chris_wot wrote: post #3

I’m surprised he hadn’t added “Land of Lisp”.

Yeah, LoL was an interesting experience. I could write shorter Python versions of most of the lisp code in the book, but it was an enjoyable introduction.

If I recall correctly, the common lisp community doesn't like nor recommend the book at all.

I remember going through the first 6 chapters and often going on the CommonLisp channel on free node to ask questions and eventually found out it was either wrong or misleading in many of the fundamentals. I tried to keep going through it but eventually gave up and picked the much better practical common lisp.

Re: Quirky computing books

#22

Post by ephaeton »

7thaccount wrote: post #12
chris_wot wrote: post #3

I’m surprised he hadn’t added “Land of Lisp”.

Yeah, LoL was an interesting experience. I could write shorter Python versions of most of the lisp code in the book, but it was an enjoyable introduction.

Personally, I associate LoL with "Let Over Lambda", but that's definitely not quirky :)

Re: Quirky computing books

#23

Post by homarp »

westoncb wrote: post #4

My favorite quirky computing book was something I found in the library by chance at my university when I should've been attending a Principles of Programming Languages course. We'd been learning Prolog in class for the past two weeks but I'm terrible at learning from lectures, so eventually I decided it'd be a better use of my time to locate a book I could teach myself from rather than doodling in class. IIRC it hadn…

would it be this one ? https://books.google.es/books?id=tpaeeqefEG4C&pg=PA363&lpg=P...

Computers in Education: Prolog as a Cognitive Tool

page 368 has a few stuff around "Alice in Wonderland"

Re: Quirky computing books

#24

Post by westoncb »

homarp wrote: post #23
westoncb wrote: post #4

My favorite quirky computing book was something I found in the library by chance at my university when I should've been attending a Principles of Programming Languages course. We'd been learning Prolog in class for the past two weeks but I'm terrible at learning from lectures, so eventually I decided it'd be a better use of my time to locate a book I could teach myself from rather than doodling in class. IIRC it hadn…

would it be this one ? https://books.google.es/books?id=tpaeeqefEG4C&pg=PA363&lpg=P... Computers in Education: Prolog as a Cognitive Tool page 368 has a few stuff around "Alice in Wonderland"

That looks like a pretty cool book.

It is not the one I used though: the entire book was Alice in Wonderland themed.

Re: Quirky computing books

#25

Post by bastawhiz »

The book which taught me to "really" program is certainly the quirkiest that I've ever read. "Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6" [0]

My dad purchased it for me when I was nine. He didn't know how to program, but he took a stab in the dark. I diligently read through the whole book and worked through all of the lessons. It's written in a conversational, narrative style about a college course where the students produce a piece of software for a china shop.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to actually derive much value from this book unless you're keen to learn an antiquated version of Visual Basic and have the patience for a book targeted at absolute beginners, but it's definitely quirky. And for me, holds a lot of sentimental value.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-Visual-Basic-6/dp/19027...

Re: Quirky computing books

#27

Post by kabdib »

One of my early favorites was Donald Alcock's Illustrating BASIC

https://books.google.com/books/about/Illustrating_BASIC.html...

It's entirely hand-lettered. The author's afterword remarks that an attentive reader will notice the shakier lettering toward the end of the book.

He wrote a couple other books on programming (I think he did Illustrating Pascal). It's a quirky approach, but very friendly and unintimidating compared to vanilla textbooks.

Re: Quirky computing books

#30

Post by fogus »

bitwize wrote: post #6

No _why's Poignant Guide to Ruby ? That's like, maximum quirk. Zooey Deschanel can pose with that book in her hands and not look out of character.

This is an ongoing project so there are many in my personal library that need coverage. That said, _why’s guide is probably too well known for this list.
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