4 ms·

Ask HN: What are some books or courses which had high ROI on your career?

31 points by herdyderdy 3y ago

pyuser314 3y ago
my Safari books (oreilly.com) online subscription! https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/pricing.html https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/pricing.html
- dev_0 3y ago
  [dead]
- gautamsomani 3y ago
  Best investment ever. I make it a point to do 1 live course every week, even if its a repetition (read:revision) of an already done older course. Have been doing this since last 2 years, even though its a hefty cost on my pocket, the learning is great.
fellowniusmonk 3y ago
Visual Quickstart Guide for SQL. I still give it to my new data analyst interns, so many are excel jockeys and it's the most consumable intro and reference to sql I know for a someone intimidated by SQL. Combine that with coding horrors join diagrams from 2007 and you've got even non technical people off to the races even if they aren't particularly self guided learners. I wish I had an equivalent for R though, still don't know how to ease people into that.
- BOOSTERHIDROGEN 3y ago
  Which sql authors specifically ?
  - fellowniusmonk 3y ago
    3rd Edition. Fehily.
    - gautamsomani 3y ago
      Just checked that book, the 3rd edition is from 2008. I understand that the basics would remain same, but can anyone recommend a latest version of the stuff in it?
      - fellowniusmonk 3y ago
        I get your concern, I've found that while it doesn't have CTE's and other modern things it's enough to get people rolling unattended. That being said... man I wish they would update it.
tj-teej 3y ago
The book Impro - it's a fantastic book written by an Improv coach, the first chapter on Status was one of those lightbulb moments for me, so many interactions I had everyday made so much more sense. Reading the first chapter is a better use of an hour than anything I can think of off-hand. https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/0878301178 https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Joh...
eindiran 3y ago
Learning How To Learn (available on Coursera here [0]) and its companion book[1]. That course seriously improved how I learn new topics and has paid dividends many times over since then. [0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn [1] https://www.amazon.com/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying/dp/0143132547 https://www.amazon.com/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying/...
bambam3000 3y ago
Vladimir Khorikovs Pragmatic Unit Testing course on Pluralsight. Massive game changer for me.
vintageclothldn 3y ago
How to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie - Learning how to talk to people in a way that make them feel validated has been the most important lesson I've learned for working effectively in teams.
mattpallissard 3y ago
Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki. It was my first exposure to a language with a strong type system, type inference, and data structures in a functional language. It was off to the races for me after that.

31 points by herdyderdy 3y ago

my Safari books (oreilly.com) online subscription! https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/pricing.html https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/pricing.html

dev_0 3y ago
[dead]
gautamsomani 3y ago
Best investment ever. I make it a point to do 1 live course every week, even if its a repetition (read:revision) of an already done older course. Have been doing this since last 2 years, even though its a hefty cost on my pocket, the learning is great.

fellowniusmonk 3y ago

Visual Quickstart Guide for SQL. I still give it to my new data analyst interns, so many are excel jockeys and it's the most consumable intro and reference to sql I know for a someone intimidated by SQL. Combine that with coding horrors join diagrams from 2007 and you've got even non technical people off to the races even if they aren't particularly self guided learners. I wish I had an equivalent for R though, still don't know how to ease people into that.

BOOSTERHIDROGEN 3y ago
Which sql authors specifically ?
- fellowniusmonk 3y ago
  3rd Edition. Fehily.
  - gautamsomani 3y ago
    Just checked that book, the 3rd edition is from 2008. I understand that the basics would remain same, but can anyone recommend a latest version of the stuff in it?
    - fellowniusmonk 3y ago
      I get your concern, I've found that while it doesn't have CTE's and other modern things it's enough to get people rolling unattended. That being said... man I wish they would update it.

tj-teej 3y ago

The book Impro - it's a fantastic book written by an Improv coach, the first chapter on Status was one of those lightbulb moments for me, so many interactions I had everyday made so much more sense. Reading the first chapter is a better use of an hour than anything I can think of off-hand. https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/0878301178 https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Joh...

eindiran 3y ago

Learning How To Learn (available on Coursera here [0]) and its companion book[1]. That course seriously improved how I learn new topics and has paid dividends many times over since then. [0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn [1] https://www.amazon.com/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying/dp/0143132547 https://www.amazon.com/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying/...

bambam3000 3y ago

Vladimir Khorikovs Pragmatic Unit Testing course on Pluralsight. Massive game changer for me.

vintageclothldn 3y ago

How to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie - Learning how to talk to people in a way that make them feel validated has been the most important lesson I've learned for working effectively in teams.

mattpallissard 3y ago

Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki. It was my first exposure to a language with a strong type system, type inference, and data structures in a functional language. It was off to the races for me after that.