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34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a self-contained book on programming, July 21, 2009
This review is from: Using Google App Engine (Paperback)
I've been programming for 33 years, so in theory I shouldn't like a book that wastes pages explaining what HTTP and HTML are. Nor should I thrill to the first section in the Python chapter, which is called "What is Programming?"
How come I like this book so much then?
It is a self-contained 240-page book on programming. A smart motivated person with no experience could sit down and build a functional cloud app. If you had a friend who wanted to see what the life of a computer nerd was like, this is a great book. Is it as useful as the Google App Engine online docs? Not for an experienced programmer, but for the novice it is nice not to have to refer to a dozen interlocking books and Web sites in order to get "hello world" working.
The world needs more computer programming books like this.
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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good content...once you get to it, June 7, 2009
This review is from: Using Google App Engine (Paperback)
I'm a programmer/web developer by trade, and I had dabbled a little bit with GAE and wanted this book to have a physical copy (I like carrying books around) for reference. The content regarding GAE is really good, once you get to it. Unfortunately, half the book is chock full of what I jokingly refer to as the "History of the Internet" chapters. Some books actually have a "History of the Internet" chapter, but this book has 4 chapters explaining the web, HTML, CSS, and Python. If you don't know HTML, CSS, and Python, go buy books about those topics. Maybe the author should have added chapters on "How to Use a Computer" and "How to Read this Book". It feels like the author needed X-number of pages and just filled the first half with fluff. That's why I give this book 3 stars.
The actual GAE content, however, is really good and helpful. It doesn't go as deep as I would like, but that doesn't keep it from getting a 5 star review for this part.
So really, my review is 5 stars and 1 star, averaging out to 3 stars. I buy O'Reilly books because I don't expect them to be marketed at the "for Dummies" crowd. It's usually safe to assume that the books teach the topic and assume most of the previous knowledge. Unfortunately, because the book spends half the chapters on the Dummies content and the other half not going deep enough, I have to give it 3 stars, which is really too bad because I like the way the good GAE content is present...it's just not enough.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not like all of O'Reilly's stuff, but excellent for what it is., November 20, 2009
This review is from: Using Google App Engine (Paperback)
I'm a noob programmer, and I used this book as part of a class. I'm not sure how it works on its own, but as an instructional tool, it's the, hands down, best programming textbook I have ever used.
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