Developers Notebooks try to communicate different information than most books, and as a result, are organized differently. They do indeed have chapters, but thats about as far as the similarity between a notebook and a traditional programming book goes. First, youll find that all the headings in each chapter are organized around a specific task. Youll note that we said task, not concept. Thats one of the important things to get about these booksthey are first and foremost about doing something. Each of these headings represents a single lab. A lab is just what it sounds likesteps to accomplish a specific goal. In fact, thats the first heading youll see under each lab: "How do I do that?" This is the central question of each lab, and youll find lots of down-and-dirty code and detail in these sections. Many labs offer alternatives and address common questions about different approaches to similar problems. These are the "What about . . . " sections, which will help give each task some context within the programming big picture.
And one last thingon many pages, youll find notes scrawled in the margins of the page. These arent for decoration; they contain tips, tricks, insights from the developers of a product, and sometimes even a little humor, just to keep you going. These notes represent part of the overall communication flowgetting you as close to reading the mind of the developer-author as we can. Hopefully theyll get you that much closer to feeling like you are indeed learning from a master.
And most of all, rememberthese books are...
All Lab, No Lecture
Brett McLaughlin, Series Creator