Do you people use books?

carlmango11 · 29-05-2013 2:48am #1

Whenever I've been in the houses/apartments of people who've been in IT for years I always notice that they've always got loads of computer-related books - like on different languages, platforms etc.

I've never felt the need to buy IT books, particularly because, by its nature, everything you need is available online and also the fact that books can get outdated so fast. So my question is, is this a common thing? Is it just a culture feature of the older generation? Do you people use paper books a lot? Is there an advantage to them I'm missing?

jester77 · 29-05-2013 7:20am

I've a few linux/unix, shell, design patterns, methodology books, etc. on my shelf, they never get old. I don't but language books, they get out of date too fast, for that I've a Safari Books account that covers most things. ebooks are not great for IT, especially code samples. PITA clicking back and forward pages for tracing code, you just can't beat a paper book for that.

Colonel Panic · 29-05-2013 7:41am

I still buy a lot of books. Stuff like Code Complete or Intro to Algorithms will never go out of date. Likewise I have Engineering Mathematics, Maths for 3D graphics, Game Engine Architecture and stuff on STL and Unix that I use a lot.

Everything is available online, sure, but the risk with online stuff is something I see a lot with younger devs (and some people in the game longer than me). Ctrl-F to find what's needed. Copy paste and hack it until it builds and move on.

Books promote a different type of learning, one that I think "sticks". I know that sounds awfully nostalgic, but the medium does change the means by how we learn and remember.

ScottSF · 29-05-2013 9:07am

In the past I've always purchased a development/programming/engineering book every time I needed to learn a new language or technology. For me it is still the best way to get up to speed quickly in a formal and step-by-step way. Even if I skim some of the chapters, it forces you to focus on learning in-depth. So for me the cost is justified. Once I am familiar and understand the basics, yes the resources online are usually sufficient.

If you do like reading development books to expand your knowledge and gain expertise in all the latest in programming and IT but want to save a lot of money on the cost of printed books, I highly recommend Safari Books Online. It is an online subscription that gives you access to thousands of books which you can read on your computer, tablet, or smart phone. I believe they offer a free trial if you want to check it out.

http://www.safaribooksonline.com/

Manach · 29-05-2013 9:32am

I would read numerous technical books. These would be mostly in the Kindle or PDF format. My reasoning is that they offered more depth and a better contextual framework that just browsing articles. As well, they offer a chance to support authors who have skilled up on their craft and are will to share the knowledge.

Smoggy · 29-05-2013 9:33am

I have recently signed up to :

http://pluralsight.com/training/

The courses cover pretty much everything I would be interested in buying in a book. So I have stopped buying books and watch a course instead.

So much more civilised having someone else read to you

dazberry · 29-05-2013 9:56am

I still buy the odd book here and there. I've had to downsize my library recently when I moved house, and some of my books date back to the late 80s, but there is also a nostalgic element at play, and hence the reason why I tend to hold on to them far beyond their sell by date. I did manage to put a few in the recycle, for instance Turbo Pascal and the OWL, but couldn't manage to part with any of my DESQView API references. Nostalgia

D.

/Edit: DESQview: A Guide to Programming the DESQview Multitasking Environment

run_Forrest_run · 29-05-2013 10:00am

I have often bought books, mainly on general topics like Design Patterns, Refactoring, Test Driven Development etc. I find having them for constant reference to be helpful. I have given up purchasing Java and other latest technology books because they are out of date in no time.

However I have purchased some Eclipse books because I think the online resources, as good as they may be tend to be very de-centralised. For example, I found a book on EMF was invaluable because the api docs were not enough to give a more complete background on the topic.

I must say though, Lars Vogel is on the ball with good tutorials on everything Eclipse & Android.

Sparks · 29-05-2013 10:05am

What's this "on line" thing you speak of young whippersnapper? :P

If you want the latest API for some library, no, I wouldn't buy dead trees.
If you want a language reference book (say, K&R's C book for example), yeah, I keep a copy on my desk and it does get used.
If you want a higher-level book (say, Making Software by Wilson&co, which is the latest one I'm churning through), then yeah, I'd buy the book (dead tree or epub) but it'd live on a reference shelf at home not on the desk at work.
Some books tend to fall in between those last two, those I do on a case-by-case basis.

kerry4sam · 29-05-2013 10:05am

carlmango11 wrote: »

Whenever I've been in the houses/apartments of people who've been in IT for years I always notice that they've always got loads of computer-related books - like on different languages, platforms etc.

I've never felt the need to buy IT books, particularly because, by its nature, everything you need is available online and also the fact that books can get outdated so fast. So my question is, is this a common thing? Is it just a culture feature of the older generation? Do you people use paper books a lot? Is there an advantage to them I'm missing?

I have a library of books that actually include some IT books from my school and college days and then those bought out of pure interest when I was brushing up on my IT skills. I find them invaluable at times as I prefer books at times for some reason than googling.

Maybe it is an older generation thing or else maybe it's just me being me

run_Forrest_run · 29-05-2013 11:17am

dazberry wrote: »

...but couldn't manage to part with any of my DESQView API references. Nostalgia

D.

tell me about it, I still have this on my desk at work

c_man · 29-05-2013 1:56pm

Yeah, in fact the only non-ebooks that I buy now are tech ones

Evil Phil · 29-05-2013 2:32pm

http://www.amazon.com/Applemans-Visual-Basic-Programmers-Guide/dp/0672315904/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369834277&sr=1-1&keywords=Win32+API+for+visual+basic

It will be with me always, I don't even do vb programming anymore.

But to stay on topic, yes I buy books but I've spent money on so many that I've only half read that I'm careful before I buy.

Tar.Aldarion · 29-05-2013 4:56pm

No I use the "on line", last book I bought was for SCJP. Books in here seem to be for propping up monitors and ubuntu release cds are placemats.

fergalr · 29-05-2013 6:38pm

carlmango11 wrote: »

Whenever I've been in the houses/apartments of people who've been in IT for years I always notice that they've always got loads of computer-related books - like on different languages, platforms etc.

I've never felt the need to buy IT books, particularly because, by its nature, everything you need is available online and also the fact that books can get outdated so fast. So my question is, is this a common thing? Is it just a culture feature of the older generation? Do you people use paper books a lot? Is there an advantage to them I'm missing?

Buying books on particular languages or platforms, I wouldn't do much. I used to, when learning to be a programmer at the start, but now its quicker to just pick up specifics of a new language or platform from online tutorials, API docs, etc. Unless its for a radically different paradigm than I'm used to.

But I do read more general tech books. I think you have to invest at least some of your time learning information that doesn't get outdated really fast. And its inefficient to only learn from your own experience.

When I buy a book, I am paying for the information to be well organised, and for clarity of presentation. Ebooks vs printed isn't that significant. I do find I'm more likely to read a physical book, as the physical space it occupies in my environment draws my attention to it.

jgh_ · 29-05-2013 7:12pm

As others have said, the conceptual books are the ones that are useful (algorithms, topical stuff such as video codecs or 3d math or whatever).. the platform specific stuff and programming language stuff is mostly worthless since it's out of date in a year or so anyway.

Aswerty · 29-05-2013 7:57pm

I'm a big fan of buying paper books. I find I learn best from them since when reading I can kick back on a comfy seat and take the time to understand what I'm reading. I've bought a few e-books but have given up on them since I never end up reading them and typically they are more impulse buys since I've generally picked them up as O'Reilly promotional deals.

I find framework and language books to be worth buying if you need to get up to speed on something quickly.

awec · 30-05-2013 12:12am

Online is ok, but you have to sift through a lot of crap to get the juicy bits.

If you want to learn something new then a book is still the best place to get the information in one place.

Elvis_Presley · 30-05-2013 3:14am

Numerical Recipes in C, the rest are monitor props.

razor2013 · 30-05-2013 1:29pm

I print a lot of online tutorials. It's a lot easier to read paper than scanning the computer screen.

Sparks · 30-05-2013 1:51pm

razor2013 wrote: »

I print a lot of online tutorials. It's a lot easier to read paper than scanning the computer screen.

Yeah, 300dpi -v- 72dpi is a strong argument for paper. The newer screens like the retina display and the chromebook screen are a good response, but they're still not everywhere. Eink (especially the pearl screen used in the kindle 3 and later and the B&N nook touch) is pretty good for plain reading as well, though it's painful to watch if you've rooted the underlying android device (which with the nook is about the only way to read pdfs or djvu files).

Do you people use books?

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