Reader reviews

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

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

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 clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

Mixed feelings. The good parts are genuinely good; the rest is forgettable.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Fine, but there are stronger books on the same subject if you look around.

The clearest explanation of javascript I have come across.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

This is the third book I have read on analytics this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with analytics.

It does the job, though it took some patience to get through.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.