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Reader review4 / 5
Very good, with a few caveats
Well worth picking up if you already have the basics.
I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.
I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.
I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.
Strong content, uneven pacing. I would still recommend it.
A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.
Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.
I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.
Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.
I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.
A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.
I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.
