> I stopped needing to read Sams "... in 24 hours" code-tutorial style books a while back
I'm afraid I still need my hand holding, sometimes, even after all these long years! :) My last tech book was on AngularJS (front-end stuff not being a strong point for me), and my next is on game physics (my maths is pretty weak for this area), and in both cases, seeing code helps me a lot more than abstract theory. I do sometimes consider getting a big tablet for these sorts of books, but it seems like a lot of money for a single use item. Be nice and shiny, though ... On 15 September 2013 11:20, Paul Robinson <[email protected]> wrote: > On 15 Sep 2013, at 09:35, doug livesey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Don't get me wrong, I still buy them for it, as it's cheaper and more > convenient to carry around, but I find code examples wrapped too much, and > the lack of colour is a real disadvantage, too. > > Technical books that I really need to study & grok, I buy the paper > copies, sometimes after confirming that the investment will be worth it on > the kindle (although not often -- that would be silly). > > > Source code heavy stuff I want neither on my Kindle or on paper but on > screen. Syntax-highlighted (because all the code I work with is so my brain > is better wired to comprehend it), and possibly cut/paste-able so I can > play with the examples a little and try different things. > > Buying the eBook from O'Reilly, pragprog.com or Amazon and then being > able to get it on-screen is therefore quite useful. You're not tied to the > device - I like the device for being able to carry a large number of > volumes for reference though. > > However, most decent "tech" books I read these days are source-code light > and discussion-strong: I stopped needing to read Sams "... in 24 hours" > code-tutorial style books a while back, and I don't think anybody reads > books like GOOS whilst trying to really concentrate on the source code are > they? For that stuff, I don't feel I need the 1.5kgs of dead tree > cluttering up the place either. > > I also think the design of most paper books in this space is very poor as > well. If a book does have a lot of source code in it and is expecting you > to sit it next to a keyboard, why is it perfect bound? Why isn't it > ring-bound? Cost plays a part, but mostly because bookshops (remember > those?), refuse to carry ring-bound books as the display space for them is > too high. > > I don't like publishers making design decisions for the product based on > sales need rather than the needs of a reader. > > There's a *lot* of room for innovation and improvement in this space in > both paper and digital formats. I'm still surprised nobody has leveraged > the iBook format for tech books properly or at length as well, as it > happens. > > However I am absolutely astonished at the regression that O'Reilly, Sams > and Wrox have pushed in the tech books: I had hoped the Head First formats > might just break them out of the dearth they were in, but no, we still have > the same format for the most part we had in the early 1990s for most > topics. Just... awful. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NWRUG" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nwrug-members. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NWRUG" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nwrug-members. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
