From: "Michael T. Richter" <ttmrichter@...>
Date: 2008-04-26T20:19:53+09:00
Subject: Re: Has anyone read this book?

--=-LrDaW1rs/pjwzs6lQvPa
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=-XYczL2u4LRU6FAnDgVXY"


--=-XYczL2u4LRU6FAnDgVXY
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

On Sat, 2008-04-26 at 18:03 +0900, Laurent Julliard wrote:

> Note: The same book for JAVA and C++ was published on paper by Wiley.


This is always a bad sign.  Even between two languages as similar as
Java and C++ having the same book in versions for each language means
one of two things:


     1. The code involved is so trivial it is of little value.
     2. One (or both!) of the languages are getting short shrift in
        terms of proper, idiomatic use.


Given that Ruby is hugely different from Java and C++ I'm guessing
without bothering to check that the book is a waste of the Ruby
programmer's time.  I base this opinion on experiences with a line of
books that purported to teach algorithms and data structures for Pascal,
C and C++.  The only one that got decent treatment of the three was
Pascal (the original book, apparently).  The remaining two got clumsy
translations that worked against the languages' core idioms.

--=20
Michael T. Richter <ttmrichter@gmail.com> (GoogleTalk:
ttmrichter@gmail.com)
I can see computers everywhere - except in the productivity statistics!
(Robert Solow)

--=-XYczL2u4LRU6FAnDgVXY
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
  <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; CHARSET=3DUTF-8">
  <META NAME=3D"GENERATOR" CONTENT=3D"GtkHTML/3.16.1">
</HEAD>
<BODY>
On Sat, 2008-04-26 at 18:03 +0900, Laurent Julliard wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=3DCITE>
<PRE>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000000">Note: The same book for JAVA and C++ was published =
on paper by Wiley.</FONT>
</PRE>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>
This is always a bad sign.&nbsp; Even between two languages as similar as J=
ava and C++ having the same book in versions for each language means one of=
 two things:<BR>
<BR>
<OL TYPE=3D1>
    <LI TYPE=3D1 VALUE=3D1>The code involved is so trivial it is of little =
value.
    <LI TYPE=3D1 VALUE=3D2>One (or both!) of the languages are getting shor=
t shrift in terms of proper, idiomatic use.
</OL>
<BR>
Given that Ruby is <B>hugely</B> different from Java and C++ I'm guessing w=
ithout bothering to check that the book is a waste of the Ruby programmer's=
 time.&nbsp; I base this opinion on experiences with a line of books that p=
urported to teach algorithms and data structures for Pascal, C and C++.&nbs=
p; The only one that got decent treatment of the three was Pascal (the orig=
inal book, apparently).&nbsp; The remaining two got clumsy translations tha=
t worked against the languages' core idioms.<BR>
<BR>
<TABLE CELLSPACING=3D"0" CELLPADDING=3D"0" WIDTH=3D"100%">
<TR>
<TD>
-- <BR>
<B>Michael T. Richter</B> &lt;<A HREF=3D"mailto:ttmrichter@gmail.com">ttmri=
chter@gmail.com</A>&gt; (<B>GoogleTalk:</B> ttmrichter@gmail.com)<BR>
<I>I can see computers everywhere - except in the productivity statistics! =
(Robert Solow)</I>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</BODY>
</HTML>

--=-XYczL2u4LRU6FAnDgVXY--

--=-LrDaW1rs/pjwzs6lQvPa
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc
Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQBIEw/OLqyWkKVQ54QRAslhAKDAebvD6sKeGZQL5D2rrNFVmemaywCfbErY
qKJ2vYzYAYBdY+Ac4Qjamf8=
=jpb0
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--=-LrDaW1rs/pjwzs6lQvPa--