deadtrees on programming
 

Is it silly to read a deadtree programming book away from a computer?

What does it matter where you read it? You don't have to read a book on flying in front of an airplane. Personally, despite the poor trees, I prefer physical books. Of course, I'm just an old fogey who likes to read and who has somewhat more trust in the reliability of a published book than in the plethora of unreliable crap published on the internet. Not that it's 100% reliable, but it's higher than the alternatives.

I don't think so. Reading while away from the computer lets your mind think about the concept, rather than the actual implementation.

I prefer physical books as well. I don't need a computer to read them, and I can reference them while having code up on the screen without having to go between multiple windows. As for reading them away from the computer, I do it every now and then (especially if its for a language/concept I'm not familiar with).

Good point.

DaWei, I find it the other way around. How can I trust a book to be the best it can be if it can't be modified once it's printed? Although the book I'm getting is also available on the Web at http://gigamonkeys.com/book/

honestly, my best algorithm development is done off the computer screen. draw pictures, use your imagination (no, not like THAT!). :p

thinking about the problem can be a lot more helpful with a pen and paper than staring at an empty function definition.

A book is like anything else -- you have to get it from a reliable source. If you do, it's been subjected to a lot more review than most material on the screen. Sure, nothing's perfect, your odds just get better. Reference our forum's very own tutorial section. If you can't stand typos and bad grammar and spelling, you wouldn't be here, anyway.

The problem with that rationale is you're assuming it will be modified and kept up to date, rather than the author finding something better to do. As DaWei mentioned, a published book has been edited and proof-read and really picked apart before it was ever put on a shelf. The chances of a book from a bookstore being more accurate than a tutorial on a website is exponentially greater. It's not always a given, but meticulously written and updated tutorials/ebooks are the exception rather than the rule.

For the record, I have more money invested in books than I have in computers... and I have more than 10+ computers. :) I started making an inventory of my books a while back, but after about 50 of them I started losing motivation. Oddly enough, I have probably only read a handful of them front to back...

I'm guessing the best ten have paid off more than the price of 10 computers....