more practical learning books?

Question

there are tons of books out there teaching you a new language. but some of them are just too thick with lot of information and less code. it usually makes you sleepy. especially when you already know the basic syntax and wanna learn how to use a new language very fast.

are there good series of books for this?

the dummies series is very good but are there like "faster" book series that skip the unnecassary (how do you spell it) talking and get straight to the point?

maybe from 500 pages to 150 hard core practical step to step with pics kind of pages=)

these kind of series would be very appreciated i think (lynda is good cause its that fast to learn a new language! but unfortunately they dont have java videos)

Answer 1

My experience backs up your suggestion that a 150 pg treatment of a technical subject is just better than one that's 500 pages. Your time and energy won't last long enough for 500 pages. I love it when I find a solid, short technical book like that, but I can't recommend a series of them that's consistently good.

But here's a different suggestion for learning a new technical skill: read code written by leaders in the space.

I often feel we don't read each other's code enough. Code snippets in books are too often "straw man" examples -- they tackle sweet-spot scenarios, and avoid real-world complexities like security, internationalization, and integrating with legacy APIs.

You can get a good sense of not only how to use but "think in" a new syntax by reading real-world code from the masters.

Answer 2

You should write code, not read it...

Go for Head First Java. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596009205

Answer 3

Although they aren't shorter, the Head First series does avoid inducing sleep, therefore you can get through them faster with a better understanding of the topic. I'm working through Head First Java right now. It's really sinking in. I've learned a number of new languages over the years, and the Head First style of teaching seems to work faster for me than any other language book I've read. The series does include titles covering Java and PHP. Some title are for the complete beginner, others assume some programming familiarity. Check out Head First Labs.

Answer 4

The Pragmatic Programmer series is also quite recommandable.

Answer 5

For Java, yes, the head first series as others have suggsted. That is my favorite series of books. I've read over 2 of them and both were great. As well as the Java one, you should also get the OOD one: http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Object-Oriented-Analysis-Design/dp/0596008678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263239109&sr=8-1 Object Oriented design is at the heart of learning Java.

Also, if you want to go a little cheaper, the Java tutorial is excellent IMO. There is a lot of meat there and its defiantly fast and easy to progress through. Check it out here: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/ Go down to the section header "Trails Covering the Basics" and start there.

Answer 6

I strongly recommend you to read

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years...

Answer 7

I dislike the Head First series as they are very fluffy - filled with cartoons, jokes, puns, and nonsense. Go for the "Core" series from Sun Microsystems. "Core Java" by Cay Horstman is a good start. Also the O'Reilly Notebook series is quite good. No fluff and right to the point.

Answer 8

Head first Series of books are very useful and easy to understand (and covers many topics from learning programing languages to design patterns and such)

For dummies Series -Programming related books- are pretty useful too, even if you heard alot of criticism from the more experienced programmers, for us - new programmers and beginners- it is really simple and useful.

Wrox Beginning series -programming related books- is also very useful for beginners (read 2 or 3 of them) and they are pretty simple and useful, and most of the time they use one book-lenght example to cover all chapters (1 example that starts simple and keeps progressing with each chapter, and by the end of the book you will have a very nice ready-to-use application/website, which is an implementation of progressive learning)

Wrox Professinal series -programing related books- is normally the next level after reading Wrox-beginning series ( and that's of course if you've liked the previous series and NOTE that you might find some gaps between both series due to the fact that the same programming topic is written by different writers for each series)

Unleashed Series (programming books) Really useful, easy to understand , takes the reader step by step through the learning process.

Manning In Action Series Nice series, uses the learn through examples procedure (lots of examples that tends to show the power of the language, recommended if you are looking to quickly learn and use a certain language or framework.

Apress Pro series pretty Hardcore and normally not the 1st book i'd recommend to start learning a language , but definitely recommended to push your basic skills to the next level(s) (recommended to read after learning the basics.

OReilly Essential series

NOTE: What's written above is a simple opinion, and at the end of the day, different books are written by different writers -even if your reading 2 books from the same series, you dont have to enjoy or understand them both at the same level- and OF COURSE i hold great respect to all authors and the efforts they put into writing their books. :)

NOTE 2: Writing Code is the best way to learn, reading will just give you the basics of knowledge, writing Code gives you experience and helps Crave everything you read and learned through writing into your brain.

Answer 9

I think Madi D.'s List is pretty comprehensive and includes most of what I think are the best series of programming books.

My personal favorite is the Head First Series, because of its unique approach to teaching stuff.

Wrox, Apress and Manning also are pretty good. It surely depends on the book, but they are usually written very well and to the point.

I recommend going to the respective websites. Usually you can get a few sample chapters for free to find out whether the book fits your learning style.

The other obvious answer of course is that you should just do it. (Another reason why the Head First books are a good choice, because they practically force you to do the exercises and try your hand at coding.)