Programming books from cover to cover in one-shot?

Question

Is it a good idea to just read the entire programming-related book, assuming within your grasp of 250-400 pp.? Or take it slow and go through it taking your time trying to understand absolutely everything.

UPDATE 1: I am reading Beginning ASP.NET 4: in C# and VB and Programming in Objective-C 2.0 and I found that I learn a lot more if I take my time reading the book even if I have to spend 1 hour on one page... but by the time I finish reading all will be clear to me and I won't have any questions. I tried to skim the book at first but I didn't remember anything the next day.

Answer 1

Your best best is to write actual code, so it's better if you stop and code the samples and then play around with them. Reading a programming book in one sitting almost certainly means that you're reading it without doing any coding at the same time, so it's probably not a good way to go.

Answer 2

Yes and no. It depends on the book, the material, and how much context you have at the time you read it.

I can think of technical books on both sides of that argument. Sometimes I read something when I'm ready to hear it, and the material just flows in.

Other times I have to re-read it or find other material to fill in gaps, because I don't have the context on the day that I first encounter it.

Regardless, keep reading; keep learning.

One other thought: I think programming and computer science are particular categories, but they aren't the only kind of technical material you ought to be reading.

There's a lot of material on-line that would argue against reading books, but learning about mathematics, science, and general domain knowledge is equally important. In my experience, reading mathematics isn't nearly the same thing as learning a computer language.

Answer 3

Is it a good idea to just read the entire programming-related book, assuming within your grasp of 250-400 pp.?

In my opinion it is much better to get an overview of the entire book and then cherry pick and read the parts your interested in. If you try to read the book from cover to cover in order then you are quite likely not to finish. If you read only the parts your interested in then you will remain engaged and hence absorb the information better.

Technical books are not novels and there is no need to read them like one, you will get much more out of the book if you only read the parts that you are interested in.

With regard to this:

Or take it slow and go through it taking your time trying to understand absolutely everything.

it is much better to go over something multiple times over a spread out period than to try and absorb it all at once. You should read it once and get the general idea and then come back to it each time you need a refresher. Do this even if you don't think you understand it properly the first time. Repetition is the key.

Most of what I have stated above has been taken from the principles of speed reading and part of the rationale is that you should learn to read the most effective way, not the way you were taught in primary school when you were learning (cover to cover).

Oh and of course mix your reading with practical application as this will help you to engage with the material AND help you learn it, not just learn about it.

Answer 4

Books that tell stories (such as The Mythical Man-Month) can be read straight through.

Books that are for reference can be dipped into at random.

Books that require a full understanding of one chapter before proceeding to the next should usually be approached slowly and methodically.

Note that You're not going to remember new information if you don't put it to use, and soon.

Answer 5

I personally think that reading before coding is always most effective for retaining knowledge. Read a few chapters without coding a thing, then go back through the examples.

Obviously your goal is to learn the material, not simply read the book. Think back to professors/teachers you might've had that really emphasized reading the associated chapters before class. It's the same principle and can be applied to anything you'd be trying to learn, not just coding.

Answer 6

If you don't understand something, skim/read ahead a bit. See if its a "dead-end" topic (nothing else in the book requires you to know it) or if the rest of the book builds on it. If you need to know it for future chapters, you should definitely make sure you understand it before continuing. If its somewhat of a "dead-end topic" then you can skip if you like and see if you want to come back to it later.

Answer 7

Don't do that with cookbooks.

Answer 8

I find it interesting how most of us are trying to give definitive advice on how to do it, as if everyone learned stuff the same way and all topics in a book had the same difficulty.

Just read the book and probe yourself as you read it. I'm quite certain that you are perfectly capable to tell if you are learning new stuff or not, and whether you can just keep reading or if you should stop, think, and code a little bit before going on.

One thing, however, is absolutely true: you won't master what you are reading if you don't put it to practice.

Answer 9

Hi Sahat,

I found Accelerated C# 2008 and 2010 excellent reads cover to cover in as quick a time as possible. Old practices die hard from going for results at uni back in the day, so I take efficient notes on everything I read that i found useful for skim reading again later. I can then do a refresher on everything I found useful in the book in hours at any time - much like I would have done repeatedly before exams.

I also agree with the poster about coding as you go. Just as an excuse to break up the monotony I would pull out vs and give something I'm reading a whirl. It just keeps it real, but I dont worry about being thorough with that - I know I can pick it up fast when I need something later once I've got a good grounding in the fundamentals.

Also, I agree with the poster about biting off what you can chew. In my case I knew I wanted to ingest every bit of knowledge in this book from cover to cover, so it was a mission to mark off every chapter as quickly as I could until they were all done - ok I skipped 1 or 2 that went into the "boring I'll look it up if I ever need it" basket hehe. That is a real threat I think to completion - getting bored in a chapter and the wind falling out of your sails and sapping your inspiration to finish. Dont go there.