# Programming language book recommendations for each language

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 7, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546 "2014-12-07T03:47:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546/21 "2015-01-04T13:41:14Z")

</div>

> [@usedtobe](#):
>
> Are textbooks still 800 page monstrosities that defy comprehension?

Most of pages are dedicated to example code so 800 pages should not be too large to read and understand 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546/22 "2015-01-04T18:50:38Z")

</div>

> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> Nope - I just double-checked and it is an ATM. The book I have is C# For Programmers, 2nd Ed.

There’s a whole series of Deitel books with “How To Program” in their titles: “C++: How To Program” or “Java: How To Program”, etc. Those are the ones with the elevator project, at least in the (older) editions I saw.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546/23 "2015-01-04T18:57:09Z")

</div>

> [@septimus](#):
>
> I wonder if others also find Javascript annoying. Try this code:
> 
> ```
> var foo = "3.14";
> alert(foo + 16);
> foo -= 0;
> alert(foo + 16);
> foo |= 0;
> alert(foo + 16);
> 
> ```
> 
> The features exposed by the above code, “cutesy” or not, are almost essential for proper use of Javascript. Yet they’re hardly clear in reference manuals – they’re almost like Easter Eggs! :eek:

_On the other hand,_ JavaScript has so damnfuckingmany of those bizarre and obscure rules about implicit type conversions and everything else in the language, if some book actually listed them all it would boggle your mind to try reading it. I have a book that does that , and it made me dizzy trying to plow through it.

In fact, my mind may still be boggled. Even as I type this, it’s beginning to occur to me that I’m not sure if that was a JavaScript book or a PHP book (or both) that was boggling my mind with so many obscure rules like that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546/24 "2015-01-04T22:16:05Z")

</div>

> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> _On the other hand,_ JavaScript has so damnfuckingmany of those bizarre and obscure rules about implicit type conversions and everything else in the language, if some book actually listed them all it would boggle your mind to try reading it.

See this [handy chart](http://dorey.github.io/JavaScript-Equality-Table/).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ptr2void](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ptr2void/32/3406_2.png) [@ptr2void](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ptr2void)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546/25 "2015-01-04T22:59:02Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Beginner/Intermediate:  
> Let us C

No. 10000x NO. This book is garbage, teaches horrible practices and recommends the use of Turbo C, a compiler for 16-bit DOS.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-language-book-recommendations-for-each-language/706546.md?page=1)