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Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

eloquentjavascript.net

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Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#61

Post by the_af »

coldtea wrote: post #59
the_af wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if there's no scientific research, e-ink doesn't seem a gimmick to me. I find it a pain to read on a laptop, but find a kindle almost as good as a real book. My eyes simply tire a lot faster with an LCD.

As I said, laptops don't have the e-ink resolution. And depending on what you read, it might not even have the same contrast. So, unless you adjust the brightness and contrast appropriately and have a hi-DPI laptop, e-ink will come on top for reading. There's also the convenience in holding the reader vs using the laptop to read. So cannot really compare it to a common laptop. To actually compare like to like, compar…

I don't think it's about resolution. I'm comparing a 15'' 1920x1080 laptop screen to my 2nd Gen Kindle. I think it's about brightness. Light-emitting screens make it harder on the eyes to read books. An iPad's screen feels similarly uncomfortable to me. The main benefit of e-ink is that it doesn't emit light and therefore feels almost like a paper book.

Agreed about the ergonomics: it's more comfortable to hold a kindle than a laptop. However, I'm not sure I could replicate the experience with a tablet: I'd have to lower brightness a lot, increase contrast, and shine a light on it, at which point LCDs stop being comfortable to read.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#62

Post by uniclaude »

coldtea wrote: post #60
SeanDav wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be gimmicky to you, but I cannot read an entire book in a sitting or two (as I often do) on any kind of non e-ink monitor and that includes tablets. I can easily do this on a Kindle or other e-ink device. So, for me, e-ink is no gimmick, it is an essential requirement for prolonged reading.

Well, FWIW, I for one can read a whole books, actually lots of them from both iBooks and iOS's Kindle app (read on a tablet. Heck, even on an iPhone). And don't care particularly for e-ink (I also have a kindle I don't use much). If you can find some specific scientific argument why e-ink is "an essential requirement" (besides personal choice) then it's just cargo cult. I listed fairly accurately were e-ink is better…

> If you can find some specific scientific argument why e-ink is "an essential requirement" (besides personal choice) then it's just cargo cult.

That's not how science works, and your comments are abrasive and offensive for no good reason. Things exist before scientists can prove them, and that's why research is done.

Although a quick Google search led me to find a paper backing your argument, I find you way too quick to dismiss other readers as doing "cargo cult". Why not believe them when they say they feel less strain?

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#64

Post by taude »

greg5green wrote: post #63

I am both quite happy and a little sad that the chapter on functional programming was nixed from the first edition. It was way over the heads of the beginners the book was aimed at, but it sure was fun to try and figure out.

Is that stuff in the chapter called higher order functions now?

http://eloquentjavascript.net/05_higher_order.html

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#65

Post by chdir »

coldtea wrote: post #44
elwell wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wish we had hi-res, color, e-ink monitors with quick refresh rate. I can't bring myself to read an entire book online; even if it's free.

Well, we do have retina ipads (and other tablets). e-ink I find just a gimmick -- there is no scientific research that shows it being any better than a typical monitor for the eyes (Amazon also retracted such statements IIRC). The only real benefit was resolution (which retina/hi-dpi solved) and reading in the sun (which e-ink retains as an advantage). Sure, one reflects light and the other has a light source embedde…

> photon is a photon in both cases

With backlit LCDs you are getting fluorescent light, whereas with e-ink you can choose to have reflected daylight or incandescent ... i.e. broad spectrum sources. Definitely different on my eyes.

It's the refresh rate / responsiveness that kills the experience.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#66

Post by elwell »

coldtea wrote: post #60
SeanDav wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be gimmicky to you, but I cannot read an entire book in a sitting or two (as I often do) on any kind of non e-ink monitor and that includes tablets. I can easily do this on a Kindle or other e-ink device. So, for me, e-ink is no gimmick, it is an essential requirement for prolonged reading.

Well, FWIW, I for one can read a whole books, actually lots of them from both iBooks and iOS's Kindle app (read on a tablet. Heck, even on an iPhone). And don't care particularly for e-ink (I also have a kindle I don't use much). If you can find some specific scientific argument why e-ink is "an essential requirement" (besides personal choice) then it's just cargo cult. I listed fairly accurately were e-ink is better…

Use of the term "cargo cult" is cargo cult.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#67

Post by abhgh »

SeanDav wrote: post #52
coldtea wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, we do have retina ipads (and other tablets). e-ink I find just a gimmick -- there is no scientific research that shows it being any better than a typical monitor for the eyes (Amazon also retracted such statements IIRC). The only real benefit was resolution (which retina/hi-dpi solved) and reading in the sun (which e-ink retains as an advantage). Sure, one reflects light and the other has a light source embedde…

It may be gimmicky to you, but I cannot read an entire book in a sitting or two (as I often do) on any kind of non e-ink monitor and that includes tablets. I can easily do this on a Kindle or other e-ink device. So, for me, e-ink is no gimmick, it is an essential requirement for prolonged reading.

Completely agree! I can't finish books in one sitting on my laptop (my eyes get tired quickly), but it is easy on my Kindle paperwhite.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#68

Post by greg5green »

taude wrote: post #64
greg5green wrote: post #63

I am both quite happy and a little sad that the chapter on functional programming was nixed from the first edition. It was way over the heads of the beginners the book was aimed at, but it sure was fun to try and figure out.

Is that stuff in the chapter called higher order functions now? http://eloquentjavascript.net/05_higher_order.html

From my quick skim checking to see if it was still there, no. He touches on some of the same points, but it's not nearly as in-depth or crazy (in a wonderful, functional way).

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#69

Post by greg5green »

greg5green wrote: post #68
taude wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that stuff in the chapter called higher order functions now? http://eloquentjavascript.net/05_higher_order.html

From my quick skim checking to see if it was still there, no. He touches on some of the same points, but it's not nearly as in-depth or crazy (in a wonderful, functional way).

After looking at the old chapter again (http://eloquentjavascript.net/1st_edition/chapter6.html), it isn't as intimidating as before. So yeah, maybe it is still mostly all there -- it seems the ES5 syntax makes it way less confusing

Re: Eloquent JavaScript, Second Edition

#70

Post by ClashTheBunny »

gprasanth wrote: post #15

I've been wanting to read this. Sweet: https://gist.github.com/g-P/cbdfd4a4b982ba8fa04b

The github page for the book has a makefile that creates a pdf of the book.

The book was written for both computer and pdf, so you should really build the PDF from the code to get the parts of the text that have been altered for print. If you just PDF the html, you end up with some weird things from the interactive parts.

You can find the build targets here: https://github.com/marijnh/Eloquent-JavaScript/blob/master/M...

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