Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
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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)
#2I 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 instructional copy and paste recipes that span 10 pages for a simple problem. Urgh. This is the status quo now and it has been for a long time. I walked out with a book on pure mathematics instead - probably more useful in the long run...
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#3I 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…
> I don't read programming books any more because they are mostly shit or expensive or expensive and shit.
That’s consistent with the first reason given in the article:
> I lay part of the blame squarely at the feet of the technical book publishing industry:
> Most programming books suck. The barrier to being a book author, as near as I can tell, is virtually nonexistent. The signal to noise of book publishing is arguably not a heck of a lot better than what you'll find on the wilds of the internet. Of the hundreds of programming books released every year, perhaps two are three are truly worth the time investment.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#4I try and re-read Fred Brooks' _Mythical Man Month_ every year or two. That is a short series of essays that I seem to always find a "new" idea from. My most recent re-read the line that stuck with me was "plan to throw one away. You will anyhow."
What I took from that given the situation I was in at time was that the best way to build an abstraction is to build the first one without any abstraction, and only then, when you understand how whatever is being abstracted will be used, try and build the abstraction layer, rather than starting with the attempt at abstraction. There are other ways to interpret it- it can point you to a more Agile design philosophy even though he was writing decades before the Agile Manifesto.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#5I 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…
> I don't read programming books any more because they are mostly shit or expensive or expensive and shit. That’s consistent with the first reason given in the article: > I lay part of the blame squarely at the feet of the technical book publishing industry: > Most programming books suck. The barrier to being a book author, as near as I can tell, is virtually nonexistent. The signal to noise of book publishing is arg…
The problem is that they're written by developers. And when I say developers I mean developers, not engineers or authors. Everything is about a sausage factory, nothing more. You don't learn stuff other than copying and mimicry. And some of it is absolute monkey excrement. But when you don't know better it feels like you are learning something good.
I am considering writing a bad programming book on purpose. I will call it "how to sling together a badly written Go 'enterprise' app and smear AngularJS over the top"
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#6Some counter-examples:
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
- C Interfaces and Implementations
- Design Patterns
- Compilers: Principles, Practice and Tools
Each of these should make you go "a-ha!", in its own way.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#7I 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 are the only ones I purchase these days, for those reasons.
The Go book, Rust Programming language, Stroustrup's books on C++ etc are quite good and worth owning, but those are exceptions rather than the rule.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#8I 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…
> 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.
This says more about React than it does about the publisher.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
> 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. This says more about React than it does about the publisher.
Churn in the software world is out of control, and I have no idea why we accept it.
Re: Programmers Don't Read Books – But You Should (2008)
#10I 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…
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