Reader reviews

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I have been working with microsoft programming for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Disappointing. The description oversold what is actually inside.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. I would look elsewhere unless you have a specific reason to need this particular title.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.