Reader reviews

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

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The chapters on introductory & beginning are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I have been working with databases & big data for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

Strong content, uneven pacing. I would still recommend it.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

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

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 author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.