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Paolo Amoroso
@amoroso@oldbytes.space  ·  activity timestamp last month

Dave Gauer @ratfactor explains why he reads technical books. He expresses very well motivations I share but couldn't articulate, such as books having a single voice and stylistic convention.

https://ratfactor.com/b/technical-books

#books #reading #documentation

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glyn
@underlap@fosstodon.org replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@amoroso @ratfactor

I couldn't agree more. I've always gained deeper understanding by reading programming language reference books.

I once read "Code Complete" cover to cover, even though I was already practising much of what was taught. It was just great to see the subject presented so clearly. (I also arranged for new joiners to be given a copy.)

After decades (!) of ignorance of some parts of TCP/IP, I finally found a book which explained the principles clearly (see the photo).

A stack of ten books I couldn't bear to dispose of in retirement.
A stack of ten books I couldn't bear to dispose of in retirement.
A stack of ten books I couldn't bear to dispose of in retirement.
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Paolo Amoroso
@amoroso@oldbytes.space replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@underlap A book is a coherent journey through a topic led by a mentor.

@ratfactor

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arclight
@arclight@oldbytes.space replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@amoroso @underlap @ratfactor I wish books were less of a luxury item; they eat so much space but ebooks don't have the same accessibility, browsability, and dependability.
A tiny fraction of my Wall of Obscure Programming Language Books. The three yellow volumes form the basis of most linear algebra software in use today - Wilkinson's original ALGOL implementations were converted to Fortran to form LINPACK which evolved into LAPACK.
A tiny fraction of my Wall of Obscure Programming Language Books. The three yellow volumes form the basis of most linear algebra software in use today - Wilkinson's original ALGOL implementations were converted to Fortran to form LINPACK which evolved into LAPACK.
A tiny fraction of my Wall of Obscure Programming Language Books. The three yellow volumes form the basis of most linear algebra software in use today - Wilkinson's original ALGOL implementations were converted to Fortran to form LINPACK which evolved into LAPACK.
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Weekend Editor
@weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@arclight @amoroso @underlap @ratfactor

SNOBOL?! Really?

I'm kind of impressed.

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Mark Dominus
@mjd@mathstodon.xyz replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@weekend_editor @arclight @amoroso @underlap @ratfactor 😁
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
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ratfactor
@ratfactor@mastodon.art replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@mjd @weekend_editor @arclight @amoroso
I have that Icon paperback, too, but it has a blue cover. I've been excited to get to that one ever since I completed my SNOBOL journey. 📚
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Paolo Amoroso
@amoroso@oldbytes.space replied  ·  activity timestamp last month
@arclight These days I only read digital but buy a few significant print books, such as old titles not available online or that are particularly interesting.

@underlap @ratfactor

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