API Economy

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.