Re: *That* book
Re: *That* book
- Subject: Re: *That* book
- From: Bill Cheeseman <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 06:29:46 -0400
on 9/12/01 5:22 AM, Smith, Bradley at email@hidden wrote:
>
A lot of people here seem to be working their way throught the O'Reilly
>
book. What's the general consensus on the quality? The first reveiws I read
>
said it was a waste of money but with so many using it I wonder if it's
>
worth a buy?
I'm about 2/3 of the way through it, and my reaction is positive -- unlike
what appears to be the majority view (the majority, at least, of those who
have been vocal about it). It is true that there are a large number of
errors in the code (there are some errata on the O'Reilly site). But I found
the explanation and illustration of Cocoa concepts to be very helpful.
Here's my take on the different reactions to the book that I have seen.
1. Those who find it too elementary seem already to know too much about
Cocoa to find a beginner's book useful. Folks like this will probably find
the books that are yet to be published (I know of three) to be more advanced
and therefore more helpful.
2. Those who find it too advanced and difficult seem to be real beginners.
People who haven't previously dealt with object-oriented programming
concepts seem to have a particularly difficult time with it.
3. I think I fell in a middle group, which should find the book useful:
those who have some familiarity with object-oriented programming concepts
and who perhaps already know C and have read Apple's Objective-C book. I
have worked with object-oriented programming concepts for a long time, and I
had already puzzled out a lot of Cocoa on my own over a period of months.
The book has served to confirm my self-taught understandings and to fill in
some details in areas that I haven't yet conquered. I found the book very
reassuring, and I found it easy to understand those points that I haven't
yet learned on my own.
If you fall in group 3, I recommend that you read the official Cocoa
reference documents along with the book. The problem with code example books
is that one's mind gets passive and lazy. You need to make sure you
understand why the samples were written the way they were, and what the
alternatives might have been. A good way to force yourself to read the book
actively is to read the technical documentation at the same time.
--
Bill Cheeseman - email@hidden
Quechee Software, Quechee, Vermont, USA
The AppleScript Sourcebook - www.AppleScriptSourcebook.com
Vermont Recipes - www.stepwise.com/Articles/VermontRecipes
| References: | |
| | >*That* book (From: "Smith, Bradley" <email@hidden>) |