Notebooks Are...
Example-driven guides
As you'll see,
section, developer's notebooks are built entirely
around example code. You'll see code on nearly every
page, and it's code that does
somethingnot trivial "Hello
World!" programs that aren't worth
more than the paper they're printed on.
Aimed at developers
Ever read a book that seems to be aimed at pointy-haired bosses,
filled with buzzwords, and feels more like a marketing manifesto than
a programming text? We have tooand these books are the
antithesis of that. In fact, a good notebook is incomprehensible to
someone who can't program (don't
say we didn't warn you!), and
that's just the way it's supposed
to be. But for developers...it's as good as it gets.
Actually enjoyable to work through
Do you really have time to sit around reading something that
isn't any fun? If you do, then maybe
you're into thousand-page language
referencesbut if you're like the rest of us,
notebooks are a much better fit. Practical code samples, terse
dialogue centered around practical examples, and even some humor here
and therethese are the ingredients of a good
developer's notebook.
About doing, not talking about doing
If you want to read a book late at night without a computer nearby,
these books might not be that useful. The intent is that
you're coding as you go along, knee deep in
bytecode. For that reason, notebooks talk code, code, code. Fire up
your editor before digging in.