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Wow: a lot of people really have some dislike for this book. Not surprising, since Hacker News emphasizes the code-obsessed mind. I'm not somebody who lives in
by unalone 18y ago
Wow: a lot of people really have some dislike for this book. Not surprising, since Hacker News emphasizes the code-obsessed mind.
I'm not somebody who lives in the world of programming, and this is the only guide to coding that I've ever read and learned from. _why phrases things in ways that make their concepts easy to grasp and he makes for a compelling read. People who insult that or call it drugged-up miss that he's not writing a technical guide. He's writing a poignant guide, and that means that the larger goal is getting people really emotionally invested in the language. You learn the bare minimum to the language, which is enough so that then you can go on and find technical manuals, understanding enough to not be instantly turned away.
I hate tech manuals. I use a few reference books, but I can't pick up a "Guide To X Language" and get very much from it. A guide that makes coding fun is exactly what I need.
- bmelton 18y agoI recommend why's guide to every non-techie I know who wants to jump into programming. I had an HR friend of mine trying to make sense out of some data, and wanted to contract me to write a really simple script to make some sense out of his flat file data. I didn't have time, and since he wasn't an idiot, I figured he could take it on himself, and gave him a link to the poignant guide, which he claims worked like a charm. Now he's making me justify my salary to him. For people who already know programming concepts, and just need to know syntax and what's different about Ruby from what they already know, I think the poignant guide is the long way there. For this crowd, I understand the bitter reception.