An excellent reference, to be sure, but a fairly strong grasp of ruby (more than you'll get from tryruby.org) will help with comprehension. It also he...moreAn excellent reference, to be sure, but a fairly strong grasp of ruby (more than you'll get from tryruby.org) will help with comprehension. It also helps to have played around with Rails some before you even pick this book up.(less)
I'm giving up on this book at about 25-30% in (which could be 100% through your average tome -- this is a long book!). It's too slow for my taste and...moreI'm giving up on this book at about 25-30% in (which could be 100% through your average tome -- this is a long book!). It's too slow for my taste and I still have trouble telling a few of the characters apart, mostly due to the manner in which they are (or are not, depending on how you see it) introduced. It may very well explain cryptography in a layman-friendly manner, but it's buried under a pile of details so large and pointless that even Randy couldn't figure it out. Or wait... Lawrence?...(less)
An excellent guide with tons of useful tips, to be sure; but there were a few areas that would have benefited from simply continuing the thought or ex...moreAn excellent guide with tons of useful tips, to be sure; but there were a few areas that would have benefited from simply continuing the thought or explaining a bit more thoroughly. I often found myself asking, "ok, that sounds like reasonable advice, but WHY?" In particular, the chapter on functions seems to be a paramount concept, but also one of the most tersely written. I have read it twice, plan to read it at least once more, and still don't feel that I've internalized it.(less)
While parts of it were risqué or hard to read (beating innocent animals), the story would not have been the same without them. I'm still intrigued by...moreWhile parts of it were risqué or hard to read (beating innocent animals), the story would not have been the same without them. I'm still intrigued by the title, which is sadly never fully explained. I really enjoyed this book and would eagerly recommend it to friends.(less)
Most epic book I'm 26 years late reading. Easily recommended to anyone interested at all in Science Fiction, to people who find themselves constantly...moreMost epic book I'm 26 years late reading. Easily recommended to anyone interested at all in Science Fiction, to people who find themselves constantly psychoanalyzing everyone, and anyone with a heart.
Orson Scott Card paints a fascinating future society full of intriguing characters and what I believed would be the end was not, which is always a pleasant surprise. There were parts, especially in the last third of the book, where I was very reluctant to put it down. What's truly amazing is just how little from Card's imaginary world we've accomplished since its 1985 inception, while much more has been accomplished from the worlds of Star Trek and Star Wars.
This book is definitely getting added to my favorites shelf. Welcome!(less)
This book was a very quick read - I read it cover to cover in a little more than two and a half hours. Still, it manages to pack in a very succinct an...moreThis book was a very quick read - I read it cover to cover in a little more than two and a half hours. Still, it manages to pack in a very succinct and clear explanation of the basic building blocks of OOP in ColdFusion: CFCs and the "Bean" paradigm.
If you're already familiar with the technical aspects: What CFCs are, how to write them, and how to instantiate and use them; then you can probably skip directly to chapter 4, where the less tangible aspects of OOP are covered: Inheritance, Polymorphism, Composition, and Aggregation. These are the concepts I was hoping to expand my understanding of by reading this book and while they are all covered and perhaps done justice, I would have liked to have seen a bit more content dedicated to them. As it is, all of these topics share a single 22 page chapter. After which, a lengthy discussion of DAOs, Gateways, and Services finishes out the book; which may do more harm than good.
As a veteran of the "5-to-1" arguments (is it necessary to create a bean, dao, gateway, service, and value-object for every entity/table?), I tend to stray away from informing people about all of the intricacies of each of these objects for fear of understanding being mistaken for promotion. I hope people don't read this book and take his explanation as advice, and start creating all of these objects unnecessarily again.
For as short a book as it is, I suppose it's a fair distribution of content, but as I said, I would have liked to see a bit more discussion around the 4 most often confused concepts of OOP and less around DAOs, Gateways, Services, etc.(less)
I didn't really get anything from this book. The main character, Shadow, was interesting and the subplot with his wife was also interesting, but other...moreI didn't really get anything from this book. The main character, Shadow, was interesting and the subplot with his wife was also interesting, but otherwise I'm left wondering why the hell I bothered to finish the book. I've never been great at picking up on symbolism in literature, and maybe that's the problem, but in the end, for me, it ended up being just a story, and not even a terribly interesting one at that.(less)
Bryson devotees will enjoy this enthusiastically exaggerated memoir of his childhood, and most will also take joy in a brief history of Katz's formati...moreBryson devotees will enjoy this enthusiastically exaggerated memoir of his childhood, and most will also take joy in a brief history of Katz's formative years. Honestly I was a little disappointed at how little the book mentioned the Thunderbolt Kid character, expecting it to be more of a constant theme. Despite that, I very much enjoyed the book and Billy's fond memories of his childhood home, quirky parents, sordid past, and as always, his taste for the way things were in the period.(less)
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