[Mastering-perl] master perl chapter layout

[Derek B. Smith]

--- brian d foy <brian.d.foy at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 10/2/06, Derek B. Smith
> <derekbellnersmith at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > I am reading a book called Head First Java b/c I
> want
> > to learn Java as Java and Perl are a good mix of
> > technologies to know.  In this book there are many
> > small snippets of code that are short and sweet,
> > questions and spaces for me to write down what I
> think
> > is the right answer then at then end of the
> chapter
> > are the correct answers explained...
> 
> > Do you plan on have sections where the reader can
> > answer and write down answers to questions within
> each
> > chapter? Do you plan on having some of the
> examples I
> > listed above?
> 
> I've been asked by O'Reilly about writing a "Head
> First" book for
> Perl, but Mastering Perl is going to be a
> traditional Nutshell book
> with the same format and style as the other O'Reilly
> Perl books.
> 
> I think the "Head First" stuff might work well for
> introductions to
> topics, but the format would seem overly burdensome
> for advanced
> material. You'll notice that all of the Head First
> books are large,
> but that's not because of the amount of information.
> Having seen only
> a couple of the books, I've been disappointed at how
> much information
> they are able to convey due to the limitations of
> the format. Indeed,
> I've been disappointed at the focus on format over
> good information.
> 
> The "Head First" series is basically publishing on
> the cheap. The art
> is freely available clip-art, and the author does
> the layout and so
> on, handing in a ready-to-publish book. This is
> similar to what WROX
> and some other extinct publisher have done. One of
> the reasons I write
> for O'Reilly is that they have a great set of
> editors. The real
> strength of a publisher is the ability of editors to
> judge and give
> feedback on content. The fine folks at O'Reilly
> aren't going to let us
> say grossly incorrect in a Nutshell book. "Head
> First" books don't get
> the same sort of support, and I think its apparent
> in the quality of
> its content.
> 
> Kathy Sierra, who came up with the format, says that
> people certainly
> like it a lot, but I haven't ever heard anything
> about whether people
> learn better (or even as much) from the books. It
> seems to me that it
> would be okay to read it the first time, but looking
> up something
> would be particular frustrating when you want to
> verify something
> rather than play along in a graphic novel. I'm sure
> that people do
> like the experience better, but I've also found that
> what people like
> isn't always the best thing for them.
> 


Thanks for your thoughts, but you did not answer my
question. :)  Will you include a question/answer
section?
Yes good point on the verification of a fact...the
Head First series I could see would not be exact.

Funy thought b/c this book Head First Java is
published by Oreilly??? : )


Head First Java, 2nd Edition Kathy Sierra, et al  
O'Reilly Media, Published 2005, 2nd edition, ISBN
0596009208

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