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Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

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Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#31

Post by Jtsummers »

taeric wrote: post #30

Amusingly, I thought Code Complete was disliked now? I thought it was fun, but definitely over sold on things. I liked the other ones, even if I don't remember take aways from them at the moment. I do reject the Knuth observation here. Annoyingly, most criticism you will ever see of a Knuth book are from people that never read them. Not that I don't get the point, as following closely behind that group are those that…

Code Complete seems more forgotten than disliked these days (rarely mentioned, either for or against). Clean Code is the one that, when you mention it, brings out all the negative comments.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#32

Post by felixnm »

RyanOD wrote: post #23

Maybe consider a subscription to Safari Bookshelf instead. Everywhere I've ever worked, they've been happy to foot the bill for an annual subscription so I have a deep reference library.

A few years ago, O'Reilly had a 60% off sale for an annual subscription, which I promptly took advantage of. I've been paying only $200 per year ever since. Not sure if they still have that deal.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#33

Post by RyanOD »

felixnm wrote: post #32
RyanOD wrote: post #23

Maybe consider a subscription to Safari Bookshelf instead. Everywhere I've ever worked, they've been happy to foot the bill for an annual subscription so I have a deep reference library.

A few years ago, O'Reilly had a 60% off sale for an annual subscription, which I promptly took advantage of. I've been paying only $200 per year ever since. Not sure if they still have that deal.

Yes, $200 per year is a great deal. For those who are ok with reading digital content, Safari is where it's at, in my opinion.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#34

Post by Clamchop »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #20
biofox wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Churn in the software world is out of control, and I have no idea why we accept it.

It's funny because at the end of the day it's still all just instructions on a CPU. Computers essentially haven't changed in half a century. What the biggest change between then and now? Multi-core processors?

I'd say GPUs and the things descended from them and how they're being used now is a pretty big development.

You can still be reductionist about it, but it feels materially different from the mundane calculations and algorithms that sprung to mind when I read your post.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#35

Post by taeric »

Jtsummers wrote: post #31
taeric wrote: post #30

Amusingly, I thought Code Complete was disliked now? I thought it was fun, but definitely over sold on things. I liked the other ones, even if I don't remember take aways from them at the moment. I do reject the Knuth observation here. Annoyingly, most criticism you will ever see of a Knuth book are from people that never read them. Not that I don't get the point, as following closely behind that group are those that…

Code Complete seems more forgotten than disliked these days (rarely mentioned, either for or against). Clean Code is the one that, when you mention it, brings out all the negative comments.

Ah, makes sense! I am pretty sure I've read them both. I'm not too surprised that I would mistake them for each other. Will have to look back at Code Complete. :D

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#36

Post by koinedad »

Computer programming books have a special place in my heart. I really like the idea of them. I think my brain is limited in how much it can retain from a book vs things I see and encounter daily though. My memory is optimized for urgent/important/daily use.

There’s a lot of non-programming books I really enjoy though as well.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#37

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

Clamchop wrote: post #34
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny because at the end of the day it's still all just instructions on a CPU. Computers essentially haven't changed in half a century. What the biggest change between then and now? Multi-core processors?

I'd say GPUs and the things descended from them and how they're being used now is a pretty big development. You can still be reductionist about it, but it feels materially different from the mundane calculations and algorithms that sprung to mind when I read your post.

Agreed. GPUs are a somewhat different paradigm.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#38

Post by quesera »

nyarlathotep_ wrote: post #7
minkles wrote: post #2

I don't read programming books any more because they are mostly shit or expensive or expensive and shit. The hit rate of finding a good one is so low it's easier to just fudge your way around a problem using some idiom you're already experienced with. Just ambling around the book store earlier I saw a 3 inch think tome around Go programming called Pro Go or something. I opened it and it was a whole book of instructio…

Many are outdated by the time they hit the press. I recall a few years back, Packt et al would publish like "Modern React" or something, with examples that wouldn't build by the time the book was out. Typesetting is awful too, as you mentioned. A single paragraph for something dead simple is spread over multiple pages. Nothing against such authors; its fruitless to hit a moving target. Books on programming languages…

O'Reilly, Manning, Pragmatic, No Starch, and Addison-Wesley are generally high quality publishers.

Packt appears to be a vanity press.

React is a difficult moving target, and Packt is a six year old with a homemade slingshot.

Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)

#40

Post by RealityVoid »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #20
biofox wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Churn in the software world is out of control, and I have no idea why we accept it.

It's funny because at the end of the day it's still all just instructions on a CPU. Computers essentially haven't changed in half a century. What the biggest change between then and now? Multi-core processors?

I'd say the computer architecture can vary _greatly_ and there are a bunch of cores in modern SOC's that kind of break the assumption of how a computer works. I recently listened to this:

https://youtu.be/36myc8wQhLo?si=sWdKyW3w2vln93SP

Cache coherence, accelerators, various takes on pipelining, ISA extensions. There are many many things that change all the time.

Not even touching the SW glue stuff that changes. I don't know the history of react and what is going on in modern browsers, but I suspect there are OS constraints, evolving web standards, extra capabilities, evolving browsers that shape and force the framework to adapt. I am doubtful people change it just for the sake of it.

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