Education

Here is a biased review on a selection of more than 30 textbooks and tutorials I have gone through. In the order of most recent first.

Regardless of my rating I am aware of the great effort the authors have put into their work for which I am endlessly thankful. Every previous book that a student has read makes the success of the next book more certain.

HTML & CSS: The Comprehensive Guide to Excelling in HTML5 and CSS3 for Responsive Web Design, Dynamic Content, and Modern Layouts (Rheinwerk Computing) First Edition book cover
HTML & CSS: The Comprehensive Guide to Excelling in HTML5 and CSS3 for Responsive Web Design, Dynamic Content, and Modern Layouts (Rheinwerk Computing) First Edition

Author: Jürgen Wolf

70%

Theory volume

65%

Theory presentation

15%

Practical exercises

Overall: not bad

A lot of information, no chance to practice.

The book even follows the habitual style of making a website along the way. But it does it in such a way that you are not allowed to draw a single button. It is anything but engaging. The book also deals with the subject in isolation from modern technologies and practices.

On the bright side, the book does cover the milestones and has a Lot of information so you can at least use it as a reference.

Discrete Mathematics with Applications 5th Edition  book cover
Discrete Mathematics with Applications 5th Edition

Author: Susanna Epp

80%

Theory volume

85%

Theory presentation

80%

Practical exercises

Overall: excellent

One of the most interesting books I have ever read.

The book will not make you a great mathematician, nor should it. But it makes mathematics fun and engaging again.

Django 4 By Example - Fourth Edition: Build powerful and reliable Python web applications from scratch 4th ed. Edition book cover
Django 4 By Example - Fourth Edition: Build powerful and reliable Python web applications from scratch 4th ed. Edition

Author: Antonio Melé

80%

Theory volume

75%

Theory presentation

65%

Practical exercises

Overall: excellent

The power of Django by Example.

Showcases complicated features that you can implement using Django. The book deals on the verge of what you can fit into a single manual. The style is more of instructions rather than teaching. Because of that style, while almost all of the provided techniques work, one deviation left or right can bring you into an entanglement that will be hard to troubleshoot.

Real Python Tutorials: realpython.com book cover
Real Python Tutorials: realpython.com

Author: Dan Bader and Various instructors

85%

Theory volume

75%

Theory presentation

30%

Practical exercises

Overall: very good

Go deep on certain aspects of Python.

If you have a question on how certain things, standard libraries etc work in Python, then it is most likely you will find a good article on it on Real Python.

Vim Documentation, Reference Manual book cover
Vim Documentation, Reference Manual

Author: Bram Moolenaar

100%

Theory volume

80%

Theory presentation

5%

Practical exercises

Overall: excellent

Documentation that teaches.

After reading this documentation you might become a victim of the impression that the documentation for all software is as comprehensible as the reference manual on Vim.

Comments

Do you have a different or the same opinion about a book? Or even better: you can recommend a learning material not listed here. Do not hesitate to share.

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