I don’t read too many programming books and I don’t usually finish the programming books I do try to read. I ended up getting sidetracked trying out the code and never finish the books. I know excuses, excuses… I also didn’t have a programming book review criteria like I do for regular tech books. Chances are a programming book isn’t going to bring anything “brand new” to the community or explain a brand new concept; its about programming in whatever language. So the following is what I came up with. I reserve the right to change it for future programming book reviews. I couldn’t think of a way an easy way to grant stars so I guess I’ll just wing it for the time being.
Programming Book Review Criteria
working ideas:
-how was the book written? easy to understand?
-what level is the book written to? Beginner, intermediate, expert?
-code correct? are there mistakes? do the examples work in real life?
-can you download the source code? does it have a companion site?
-does it have more than 2 pages in a row of code? I hate that!
-if the code is more than a snippet, is it documented?
-if the book uses external libraries (like ruby gems) are links to those libraries included in the book or companion site.
-did it leave me with a memorable way to remember the material?
-how is the font for the text of the book? too small, hard to read, distracting?
