Foundations of Graphics & Compute - Volume 3: Computing (Hardback)

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

This is the third book I have read on databases & big data this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

An enjoyable and informative read, though it could have been shorter.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

Decent, but uneven. Some chapters are much stronger than others.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.