Funny. I was listening to the back catalog of Django Talk podcast. The hosts are well informed and yet one commented to the same effect that programming books a

Funny. I was listening to the back catalog of Django Talk podcast. The hosts are well informed and yet one commented to the same effect that programming books are difficult. I’ve heard researchers speak about how they read papers—read the abstract and jump to the conclusion. For my part when I read a non-fiction book that doesn’t capture my attention (and excitement) with the first pages, I jump to the index and scan for keywords which are of interest. Then I read those chapters first. This can sometimes jumpstart my interest in the author’s other chapters and their perspective. I work programming books similarly. I know I have to work through some of the examples while I read. If the book is not specific to a particular language, say an algorithm book, I have tried to rewrite in my language of choice. If all of this sounds very slow and non-linear…well, maybe it is and should be. Many books take months to write or years. I don’t expect to read them as quickly or to enjoy then the same as the Murderbot Diaries.