D3 An Introduction (Coffee Book)

Mixed feelings. The good parts are genuinely good; the rest is forgettable.

This is the third book I have read on microsoft programming this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.

The clearest explanation of microsoft programming I have come across.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.