Pile of negatives here, but all these turn me off:
- Don't try to sell a motley collection of essays from 18 different authors as if it were a carefully crafted masterpiece (unless it really is a carefully crafted *properly edited* masterpiece). Wrox books have gone downhill fast lately with this aproach. Most QUE Specials and similar mix'n'match junk repeat the same stuff ad nausem chapter after chapter. You get the feeling no-one actually read the thing front to back before it left the printers.
- Don't let the author show off how smart he is when explaining two separate concepts by combining them in some slick not-yet-explained way in the demo code. If I'm learning, I like to cement the basics with full-length one-issue code. Plenty of time later to add the slick stuff.
- Avoid 'concept' ultra-brief demo code snippets with no context. Fine for a reference work, annoying for a learning book - gimme something I can compile/run.
- Don't even think of a pay-for ebook site. Wrox (again) have lost the plot here totally. No site is worth paying for when so much free stuff is around. Code sites are great for quick reference and ideas, but suck strongly in getting the overall view and feel of a new language.
- Don't use Bible, 24, Special, Dummy, Easy, Beginner or similar marketeting crap words in the title. Developers can smell shit at 1000 paces. Tell it like it is, O'Reilly-style. You'll have to work hard to get the trust those guys have. No-one else comes close.
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Pile of negatives here, but all these turn me off:
- Don't try to sell a motley collection of essays from 18 different authors as if it were a carefully crafted masterpiece (unless it really is a carefully crafted *properly edited* masterpiece). Wrox books have gone downhill fast lately with this aproach. Most QUE Specials and similar mix'n'match junk repeat the same stuff ad nausem chapter after chapter. You get the feeling no-one actually read the thing front to back before it left the printers.
- Don't let the author show off how smart he is when explaining two separate concepts by combining them in some slick not-yet-explained way in the demo code. If I'm learning, I like to cement the basics with full-length one-issue code. Plenty of time later to add the slick stuff.
- Avoid 'concept' ultra-brief demo code snippets with no context. Fine for a reference work, annoying for a learning book - gimme something I can compile/run.
- Don't even think of a pay-for ebook site. Wrox (again) have lost the plot here totally. No site is worth paying for when so much free stuff is around. Code sites are great for quick reference and ideas, but suck strongly in getting the overall view and feel of a new language.
- Don't use Bible, 24, Special, Dummy, Easy, Beginner or similar marketeting crap words in the title. Developers can smell shit at 1000 paces. Tell it like it is, O'Reilly-style. You'll have to work hard to get the trust those guys have. No-one else comes close.