Re: O'Reilly

[Matt Hellige <matt@...>]

[Ben Sunshine-Hill <sneftel@gmail.com>]
> >
> > * Are technical books sold mainly online?
> 
> I've long since given up on finding useful tech books at Barnes&Noble;
> they're all about "Teach yourself C++ in 4.3 femtoseconds" and "Game
> programming for toddlers". I assume most techies feel the same way.
> Beyond clear standbys like the Camel book and K&R books on C,
> bookstores have their heads in the sand WRT book selection.
> 

I agree. You can find some good stuff in some of the more technical
areas (DBMS implementation, for instance) but as far as the programming
languages section is concerned, it's pretty grim.

> > * How much the publisher actions impact a book sales?
> >
> > * How much the publisher's name impact a book sales?
> O'Reilly has a good reputation for quality (though it's gone
> downhill). Everyone else I put on about equal footing. I always read
> reviews before buying, but I'll tend to look at O'Reilly first.

I'd stay away from the "15 author photos on the cover" publishers like
Wrox and Sams, probably... Those don't seem to have a great
reputation. But O'Reilly, New Riders, a lot of the Apress stuff,
Addison Wesley, Prentice Hall... They're all worth a look.

Matt

-- 
Matt Hellige                  matt@immute.net