I've seen some excellent programming books, as well as some that were so dull and ineffective. What makes a programming book good or bad? or clear or confusing?
2006-07-07 09:12:04 · 5 answers · asked by M 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
I find that good, step by step examples are key. It is best if the examples work on the same problem, moving a little further each step Ex. writing a cash register program, start with simple IO and math, then start storing transaction records, keeping inventory, then build a nice user interface, etc.
It is also good to have very straight forward definitions of important terms. often times the lousy books will assume you are familiar with certain industry buzzwords or programming terms. A good book should lay all this out for you, being sure that you have been familiarized with the needed vocabulary.
Finally, a good book will help with debugging. They may have you go through a precreated piece of software searching for errors, or give general steps for how to find such errors, but a solid process for solving problems with the software you create, as well as an overview of any tools you might need, would be important.
When it comes to computer books, I always like to go to a brick and mortar store and look at a few chapters before buying. reviews are important too, but nothing can replace personal experience.
2006-07-07 09:40:38 · answer #1 · answered by hezmana 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What makes a really good programming book is finding one that is written for the level of programmer that you currently are.
Someone just starting out needs a whole different level and type of book then one who has been around a while. Allot of books try to balance this, and most of them fail.
A beginners book needs to focus on the basics of programing and needs to be programming language independent. Once you learn the basic concepts, then you can start to looking at how the various programming language implement these concepts and the language specific syntactics that they require.
Most books focus on a single language and this is good for someone with more than basic knowledge. But chose the book carefully, again it will be best to fine one the works for your current level. Also look to the publisher, as some are far better then others in the type, style and layout of the book.
Finally for the experienced programmer, the best books are usually reference manuals that focus on the specific language API's, classes, options, etc... A good one is designed for easy look-up. These are the books can appear ineffective or confusing to a less experienced programmer. Over time that changes... but there are still a lot of bad books out there.
2006-07-07 16:51:53 · answer #2 · answered by pwklickman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is good is usually a step by step approach and learning the basics before the advanced. What is bad is when they just skip to the advanced parts before you have a clear conclusion drawn from the basic parts. However, I do not prefer books to teachers and classes, because you cannot ask a book a question although sometimes they have a FAQ, but your question may not be listed, so I think it's easier to ask a teacher or other professional directly.
2006-07-07 16:17:25 · answer #3 · answered by someone 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Save your money--there are so many tutorials and forums on line on every concievable subject that you could spend the rest of your life reading them....try www.mediacollege.com----for starters...
2006-07-07 16:39:39 · answer #4 · answered by Paris Hilton 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here is a website with all kinds of programming books:
http://www.freeprogrammingbook.com/
http://www.freeprogrammingbook.com/C.php
http://www.freeprogrammingbook.com/Cplusplus.php
http://www.freeprogrammingbook.com/java.php
2014-03-18 01:57:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋