Read (and finish) One Tech Book Challenge
Wow 2nd blog post. That is +1 more posts that I’ve ever done in the last 6 years.
I really enjoy reading, but when it comes to tech books i don’t often pick them up. Those i do pick up i either skim or just find what i need and put it down again.
So i’m going to challenge myself to not only finish some sort of tech book but to read it carefully enough to write about it here. The book I’ve chosen is called “Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design“. Its geared towards people who get bored just reading a lot of technical stuff *raises hands*. Its pretty lame in some of its attempts. I was introduced to the ‘Head First’ book series because my dad had picked up a java version without realizing that it had lots of hand holding and pretty pictures. Its great for people who don’t know how things really work *raises hand again* rather then a programmer who knew C looking to learn some OOP concepts (like my dad).
A part of a page from the book "Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design", you can see why it might annoy the hell of someone looking for a reference manual or a technical how-to.
It creates little stories of programming projects trying to show you some good concepts and failures in an attempt to teach you some of the basic concepts. I’ved work with OOP concepts before. I’m currently using the PDSA Framework where everything is wrapped up in classes and objects. I *USE* it but i don’t understand it enough to even talk about it let alone start from the ground up. If i had to write my own i’d make a lot of mistakes that i probably wouldn’t have time to correct.
BTW i’m reading it through Safari Books Online because it allows me to skim/search various books without having to pay $50 - $75 bucks a pop. It also allows me to access them at home/work/school without having to lug around a big book. 