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Out of curiosity, what do people think of reading a programming book in ebook form? I love using my Kindle for novels, but I tend to read programming books in q

Out of curiosity, what do people think of reading a programming book in ebook form? I love using my Kindle for novels, but I tend to read programming books in quite a non-linear fashion, and like the fact that I can quickly flick through the book to find information about a specific topic. Having said that, I have not tried reading a programming book in digital form, so it may turn out to be better than I imagine. Thoughts?

wiremine 12y ago
Depends on the book, but on the whole I don't enjoy reading programming-centric ebooks due to the code examples: the line breaks tend to make it extremely difficult to follow what's going on. It does depend on the device, though: Reading programming books on my iPhone is really bad; My Nexus 7 is better, and my (original) iPad is ok.
dethstar 12y ago
Well, you have indexes too, and ctrl+f so might as well be better.
blaedj 12y ago
Your concerns about quickly flipping through pages are valid. I regularly read programming books in ebook form, mostly since they are cheaper, but it isn't a perfect experience. I tend to get used to searching and setting a lot of bookmarks. One other note: Charts, graphs and tables tend to not translate well to a smaller screen (I have a nook simple touch, YMMV)
hga 12y ago
The ability to search an ebook can be tremendously useful. I too often prefer using technical books in a non-linear fashion, and a paper book is often still superior for this, but there's not much difference, search can let you "flip through" the ebook quickly, and can find things an average index + Table of Contents (TOC) won't, or won't easily. Good ebooks will also have links in the index and TOC that take you right to the item. Note, after reading wiremind's comment: I use a 24 inch high quality WUXGA (1920×1200) monitor and PDFs for this; I can envision problems with smaller form factors and can't speak about other formats.
davb 12y ago
It varies widely. The O'Reilly eBook versions are very consistent. I really rely on the reviews on Amazon for the Kindle versions (there are often complaints of layout issues in code examples and diagrams). O'Reilly is by far my favourite publisher/store for eBooks. If they can't lay out a certain technical book in a usable form in epub or mobi, then it probably can't be done. In those cases, I just use the PDF on my computer or on a large tablet (Nexus 10). It's all DRM free, multi-format so I can use whichever format is best for the content. For diagram/image-heavy books I usually default to PDF. In terms of non-linear reading, it's got to be printed books or PDFs with a proper TOC and bookmarks on my computer.
jowiar 12y ago
I tend to prefer it, though not on my Kindle - The Kindle interface is optimized for linear reading. On either an iPad or laptop, though? Having search is great. As is having the ability to have a whole stack of them with you at all times.
dave84 12y ago
I use Safari Books for all my programming ebook needs. The best thing about it is searching through all books on the service. If I want to know about a specific class, function or concept I just type it in and get every book that mentions it and every occurrence in that book. The downside is the Apps, they're slow and prone to crashing which means that the web is the only viable interface.
pjmlp 12y ago
I only buy technical books in ebook format nowadays. The technology changes too quickly for us to keep killing trees and generating garbage piles of paper with last year's hot technology.
Deinos 12y ago
I tend to like ebooks for reference due to the searchability. I prefer physical copies when I want to learn a new concept/programming language/etc. I don't know why, but I just feel like I absorb the material better (probably all in my head, but still works out that way :) ).
krschultz 12y ago
I read a lot of software books (just bought 2 more from this deal actually), and switched over to e-books about 18 months ago. I had switched over to e-books for everything other than software books about 3 years ago but I was worried about readability of code snippets, the skimming through the book as you mentioned, and more difficulty sharing the book with other people. The advantage was cutting down the giant stack of physical books that was overwhelming my book shelf. I think the actual reading experience is a bit worse with an ebook on a Kindle compared to a physical copy. Some code snippets are wrapped to another line. I have had the best success with Kindle format on the Kindle, other formats are sub-par (and PDFs are unreadable). However the big gain has been after I read the book the first time. Being able to pull up any software book at any time on a side monitor while working is fantastic. That is worth any and all frustration reading on the Kindle. The formatting in that case is perfect, and the lack of context switching is great. Pro-tip: any Kindle book you buy from Amazon can be returned if the formatting doesn't work well on your Kindle. I have done this 2-3 times in the last year without issue and then I just buy the paper copy.
weavie 12y ago
I prefer it. First I have my library with me at all times. I'm pretty busy and never know when I'm going to get a chance to do some reading, so when the chance comes I know I will have my book with me. Also I like keeping several pdfs open simultaneously when at my machine so I can cross reference. Even when I'm on the bus. Searching. Copying code straight into editor. Cheaper. Less trees. Less storage requirements.
DodgyEggplant 12y ago
Big plus in kindle is highlight. During reading you can highlight all these crazy gotchas, summaries, reminders, and they are easily available to you everywhere

wiremine 12y ago

Depends on the book, but on the whole I don't enjoy reading programming-centric ebooks due to the code examples: the line breaks tend to make it extremely difficult to follow what's going on. It does depend on the device, though: Reading programming books on my iPhone is really bad; My Nexus 7 is better, and my (original) iPad is ok.

dethstar 12y ago

Well, you have indexes too, and ctrl+f so might as well be better.

blaedj 12y ago

Your concerns about quickly flipping through pages are valid. I regularly read programming books in ebook form, mostly since they are cheaper, but it isn't a perfect experience. I tend to get used to searching and setting a lot of bookmarks. One other note: Charts, graphs and tables tend to not translate well to a smaller screen (I have a nook simple touch, YMMV)

hga 12y ago

The ability to search an ebook can be tremendously useful. I too often prefer using technical books in a non-linear fashion, and a paper book is often still superior for this, but there's not much difference, search can let you "flip through" the ebook quickly, and can find things an average index + Table of Contents (TOC) won't, or won't easily. Good ebooks will also have links in the index and TOC that take you right to the item. Note, after reading wiremind's comment: I use a 24 inch high quality WUXGA (1920×1200) monitor and PDFs for this; I can envision problems with smaller form factors and can't speak about other formats.

davb 12y ago

It varies widely. The O'Reilly eBook versions are very consistent. I really rely on the reviews on Amazon for the Kindle versions (there are often complaints of layout issues in code examples and diagrams). O'Reilly is by far my favourite publisher/store for eBooks. If they can't lay out a certain technical book in a usable form in epub or mobi, then it probably can't be done. In those cases, I just use the PDF on my computer or on a large tablet (Nexus 10). It's all DRM free, multi-format so I can use whichever format is best for the content. For diagram/image-heavy books I usually default to PDF. In terms of non-linear reading, it's got to be printed books or PDFs with a proper TOC and bookmarks on my computer.

jowiar 12y ago

I tend to prefer it, though not on my Kindle - The Kindle interface is optimized for linear reading. On either an iPad or laptop, though? Having search is great. As is having the ability to have a whole stack of them with you at all times.

dave84 12y ago

I use Safari Books for all my programming ebook needs. The best thing about it is searching through all books on the service. If I want to know about a specific class, function or concept I just type it in and get every book that mentions it and every occurrence in that book. The downside is the Apps, they're slow and prone to crashing which means that the web is the only viable interface.

pjmlp 12y ago

I only buy technical books in ebook format nowadays. The technology changes too quickly for us to keep killing trees and generating garbage piles of paper with last year's hot technology.

Deinos 12y ago

I tend to like ebooks for reference due to the searchability. I prefer physical copies when I want to learn a new concept/programming language/etc. I don't know why, but I just feel like I absorb the material better (probably all in my head, but still works out that way :) ).

krschultz 12y ago

I read a lot of software books (just bought 2 more from this deal actually), and switched over to e-books about 18 months ago. I had switched over to e-books for everything other than software books about 3 years ago but I was worried about readability of code snippets, the skimming through the book as you mentioned, and more difficulty sharing the book with other people. The advantage was cutting down the giant stack of physical books that was overwhelming my book shelf. I think the actual reading experience is a bit worse with an ebook on a Kindle compared to a physical copy. Some code snippets are wrapped to another line. I have had the best success with Kindle format on the Kindle, other formats are sub-par (and PDFs are unreadable). However the big gain has been after I read the book the first time. Being able to pull up any software book at any time on a side monitor while working is fantastic. That is worth any and all frustration reading on the Kindle. The formatting in that case is perfect, and the lack of context switching is great. Pro-tip: any Kindle book you buy from Amazon can be returned if the formatting doesn't work well on your Kindle. I have done this 2-3 times in the last year without issue and then I just buy the paper copy.

weavie 12y ago

I prefer it. First I have my library with me at all times. I'm pretty busy and never know when I'm going to get a chance to do some reading, so when the chance comes I know I will have my book with me. Also I like keeping several pdfs open simultaneously when at my machine so I can cross reference. Even when I'm on the bus. Searching. Copying code straight into editor. Cheaper. Less trees. Less storage requirements.

DodgyEggplant 12y ago

Big plus in kindle is highlight. During reading you can highlight all these crazy gotchas, summaries, reminders, and they are easily available to you everywhere