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ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
From the review collection
Reader review3 / 5
Useful in parts
It does the job, though it took some patience to get through.
I have been working with programming for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Fine, but there are stronger books on the same subject if you look around.
Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.
A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.
A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.
I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.
The clearest explanation of data visualization I have come across.
I have been working with data visualization for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. The chapters on data visualization are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.
A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.
A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The chapters on parallel programming are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. 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.
