Reader reviews

Finally, a book that treats web graphics with the care it deserves.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Solid and well-organised. A couple of chapters dragged a little.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

I have been working with parallel programming for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. The chapters on parallel programming are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Good in places. I would borrow it before buying if you can.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Fine, but there are stronger books on the same subject if you look around.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.