On 12/23/05, Wally Randall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > OK, the boss is flush this time of year! He said give me a list of manuals > you NEED and I will order them! > > Gotta act fast: What are your favorite CF 7 books today and why?
If I were you, assuming you actually know ColdFusion, I'd move into getting some books to make you a better programmer instead of more reference books with fundamentally the same information in them. I'd start with The Pragmatic Programmer (Thomas/Hunt) and the Steve McConnel books (Code Complete 2, Rapid Development, Software Project Survival Guide). Then I'd think about getting Head First Design Patterns, which is probably the best recent book on design patterns (though you'll need a little Java/C# to understand it all). And if you're comfortable with Java, pick up Agile Software Development (Martin) to see what Agile Development is all about. Outside of that, invest in a good book about the database(s) you use most often. I'd suggest Kalen Delaney and Ken Hendersen if you're using MS-SQL and Michael Kolfer is you use MySQL, not to mention Joe Celko's more generic SQL books. (Can't speak to DB2, Oracle, or Postgres). Another great option is to spend money on an OReilly Safari subscription, which allows you to have between 5-20 books/month in your online bookshelf from basically every major technology publisher. That's going to return much more value if you're ok reading online. If you actually know ColdFusion, I can't imagine you getting very much out of yet another CF WACK book or the like. Those are for learning CF and do a fine job (I like the CF Bible as well -- better than the WACK books IMHO. Rob Brooks-Bilson's ill-fated OReilly book was good as well, but out-of-print) -- but they're all fundamentally covering the same information. Take the money and make an investment in your future development. And the dynamic livedocs at Macradobia, as well as the community sites will give you far more information that one of the Forta books (hey -- I've bought at least 9 Forta books so no offense to Ben) if you've been doing CF for more than a few months. -- John Paul Ashenfelter CTO/Transitionpoint (blog) http://www.ashenfelter.com (email) [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:227645 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
