Mini book reviews

Short non-fiction book reviews.

Computer books

see also: How to choose computer books

Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web, David Weinberger, 2002
If you're on the web a lot do you ever think about where you actually are? In this book Weinberger explains how we should think about the web, with a steady pace of entertaining anecdotes, contemporary references and philosophical argument that ultimately tells us that we all love the web so much because it 'is a return to the values that have been with us from the beginning'. We love it because we can be more human without the constraints of the real world - inconveniences such as distance and time. Weinberger's metaphors are funnier, though, as with 'when you get off the trampoline, the ground doesn't feel bouncy enough'. Take this book seriously, but not too much. Weinberger means it and makes good points well, but sometimes seems too self-consciously irreverent and witty. Even though this is amusing and less in-your-face than The Cluetrain Manifesto, it almost sounds like pseudo-intellectualism for geeks. I don't think so - Small Pieces is full of provocative ideas - but then I wouldn't would I?

The C Programming Language, Kerningham & Ritchie, 1988
This, the original and definitive book on C, is a refreshingly slim book, with no pointless padding. The style is frequently obscure, as is C, and the explanations are brief, so there are probably more accessible books. The definitive C book, but hard to read and too expensive.

Code Complete, Steve McConnell, 1993
This is an extremely thorough and well-balanced book on software construction that covers everything well and refers to both commercial experience and academic studies, and includes clearly differentiated prescription and personal opinion. Every programmer should read this book.

The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams, 1996
This classic book teaches office-workers, especially those in IT, that many of their experiences are common. It debunks many of the mysteries of office life, explaining, for example, that a mission statement is 'a long awkward sentence that demonstrates management's inability to think clearly'. Essential humour for all office-bound techies.

The Dilbert Future, Scott Adams, 1997
This surprisingly good follow-up to The Dilbert Principle analyses the politics of entirely new ground: the future. Noticeably more 'ha ha only serious' than the first book, this is just as funny. Worth a read if you enjoyed the first book.

Intranet Document Management, Joan Bannan, 1997
This book is much less focused than its title suggests; it only gives a shallow overview of many aspects of intranet publishing, including such details as what you can and cannot do with HTML. Worse: despite the small size, there is plenty of blatant padding. This book might be good for Dilbert's boss, but most people should only give this book give minutes' browsing in the bookshop.

Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines, Apple Computer, 1992
This is the best of the operating system user-interface guidelines books, because the writing and presentation is so clear and elegant. This is a book about the big principles, so sometimes there is less detail than in other books. These guidelines are widely applicable as the Mac OS interface has been widely copied. This excellent introduction to practical user-interface design should be on every designer's coffee table.

OSF/Motif Style Guide, Open Software Foundation, 1991
This is a very straightforward user-interface design guide, whose clarity comes from a dry 'computer manual' style. The explanations are very readable and individual guidelines are clearly marked. Many guidelines apply equally to Windows, which borrowed heavily from Motif, but much of the book is Motif-specific. Worth a look for its clear exposition of user-interface principles.

The Perl CD Bookshelf, O'Reilly, 1999
This comprehensive Perl documentation resource is excellent value for money, incorporating all six O'Reilly Perl books on one CD in a well-designed HTML format. This is a much better reference than the books: firstly the combined index and search facility integrates the books extremely well, and secondly the different books allow the reader to switch levels of detail by looking up the same topic in Learning Perl, Programming Perl and Advanced Perl Programming. An unsurpassed language reference and development resource for Perl.

Programming Perl, L. Wall, Randal Schwartz, Stephen Potter, 1996
The Camel book is justly famous: this, the definitive Perl reference, is both excellently written and extremely useful for the practicing Perl programmer. It serves well as a fairly steep introduction to the language, a language reference and a discussion of many of Perl's language features. No Perl programmer should be without this book.

Tog On Interface, Bruce Tognazzini, 1992
This very practical book on user-interface design follows on well from the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines; although the look and feel of the book isn't as nice, the content is much more satisfying and informative. This is also much more of a fun book to read. Anyone who is into GUI design would find this a good read.

The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design, Microsoft Press, 1995
These are the definitive user-interface guidelines for Windows. The content is good and there is lots of useful discussion, but is hard to use as a reference because it shies away from prescription such that individual guidelines get lost in the prose. In theory this book is essential for all Windows software developers, but since Microsoft itself ignores these guidelines they are not as relevant as they might be.