Reader reviews

Well worth picking up if you already have the basics.

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 avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

Finally, a book that treats introductory & beginning with the care it deserves.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Decent, but uneven. Some chapters are much stronger than others.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

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 book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.