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Petzold is absolutely right (and his Programming Windows is still a fantastic resource). It's just that not all technical books live up to the high bar he's set
by FreakLegion 14y ago
Petzold is absolutely right (and his Programming Windows is still a fantastic resource). It's just that not all technical books live up to the high bar he's set for them. Most technical books are JATBs ("Just Another Technical Book"), but every once in a while we get a Learn You a Haskell or Eloquent JavaScript. It's the same with every kind of book: a few gems hidden in a mound of trash.
(Also re: rsaarelm's comment, the two books I mention above were available for free online long before anyone gave a thought to publishing them. Their length is in no way dictated by printing technology or market pressure.)
- johndcook 14y agoA couple more gems: Douglas Crockford's JavaScript: The Good Parts and Jon Bentley's Programming Pearls. By the way, I find it ironic and disappointing when O'Reilly's "nutshell" books run to 700 pages.
- minikomi 14y agoI also think The two I'm currently reading together at the moment are both really nice examples of tech books with a narrative - The Joy of Clojure and The Little Schemer.
- cruise02 14y agoGreat examples, both. Even though Programming Pearls is a series of articles bound together, being by the same author and on a common theme makes them feel like they have a narrative running through them. Petzold's Code is another example that I'd recommend to anyone interested in how computers work.