What does /g/ think about the majority of programming books?

I've learned all of my programming languages through the API documentation. You can go over the information much more quickly without all the fluff.

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Most programming books are terrible because they're written for the total layman and not for the experienced programmer.

Plus, through the economics of retail, a 1400 page Deitel Java book that consists of 500 pages of appendixes commands more shelf presence and can be sold for a much higher price than a 200 page weenie pamphlet like K&R

>>56188014
Any book with the title "Introduction to <language> for <game designers/engineers/scientists/biologists/finance/statistics>" is more than likely going to be shit.

>>56189817

This.

Page 1-30:
>preface to the 6th editon, preface to the 5th editon, ..

30-60
>"what is a computer?"

60-90:
>"how to install your programming language?"

90-190:
>"doing simple arithmetics, for-loops and while loops"

190-200:
>"a brief summary of some actually usefull functions"

200-201:
>"recommendation for further reading: the stuff you were actually hoping for to learn"

>>56188014
K&R is the only programming book I like

>>56191628

>what is SICP

>>56191707
I hear if you need a variable to store a number of available Scheme jobs then a bool is entirely sufficient.

>>56191305
this is depressingly accurate. fuck.

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>>56188014

I wrote one several years ago

Can confirm they are shit for the most part

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>>56188014

Pretty much par for the course. 90% of everything is shit.

I have only had one good programming book ever, and it was just a PDF of an online reference. Other than that single golden nugget, everyone else in this thread is correct and most are just fluff.

This was what I had in PDF from 2007. It was extremely useful when I had no internet access

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

>>56192728
>learning something for the sole purpose of getting a job
>thinking SICP is solely for learning scheme

have fun making shitty java apps, wage cuck

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>>56188014
Anyone got a quality .mobi of the pragmatic programmer? Can't find anything that's not shit

>>56188014

fuck programming books
you only use programming books if you live in africa and have no internet
learn by doing

>>56188041

not all programming books are for profit

>>56188041
Is this a joke?

>K&R - published 1989
>$50 new

>1500 page programming book published this year
>$50