Less Talk, More Code
Why are technology books sooo voluminous, they are usually 500 page coffee tables as opposed to a coffee table book. I feel that most of the pertinent information can be condensed to a 40 page manual or how-to cookbook if they remove all the fluff. When dealing with new technology, lets say Struts, a developer already has, or should be assumed to have, adequate knowledge of Java, the internet, and HTML. Not a single page should be dedicated to the history of Java or HTML in a Struts book and such information should be available online. Books that deal with web application frameworks such as Struts or Ruby of Rails all have the same first chapter on the MVC pattern that these frameworks are built on. These books should reference some wiki in the sky for these background concepts and histories. From my experience the installation chapter is always a waste. Most applications are usually double click installation and usually contain a README file. I almost feel that books should ask you, do you know Java, do you know MVC, do you know HTML, if you answer yes to all these then skip to chapter 7! But maybe this is a publishing issue, I am sure there is a certain number of pages and dimensions that a book should have to be priced at a certain price range and be guaranteed a certain shelf space. All I want is less talk (I don’t care for the kayaking allegories Bruce Tate starts his chapters with) and more code. I really want a cross between the O’Reilly cookbook and hacks series. The cookbook series has plenty of code and the hacks show you some really interesting examples.