Comments on: The training we lack http://www.daltonfilho.com/2008/03/21/the-training-we-lack/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:02:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Dalton Filho http://www.daltonfilho.com/2008/03/21/the-training-we-lack/#comment-20 Dalton Filho Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:17:48 +0000 http://www.daltonfilho.com/2008/03/21/the-training-we-lack/#comment-20 Adiel, Your preferred way to learn is what I and everybody else is doing, after all, we don't have much of a choice. Advanced technical books with good didactics and exercises are so rare that when they are released it often results in great acclaim for their authors (like Kathy Sierra). I really don't like the idea of having myself to create the exercises from which my skills depend: at the time I'm learning, it's unlikely I'm going to foresee the challenges to which I'm gonna be exposed at work, hence the need for exercises created by someone with a higher degree of expertise. Moreover, technical difficulties oftentimes unfold in a way these books do not predict, or mention in a way that is far too theoretic. Adiel,

Your preferred way to learn is what I and everybody else is doing, after all, we don’t have much of a choice. Advanced technical books with good didactics and exercises are so rare that when they are released it often results in great acclaim for their authors (like Kathy Sierra).

I really don’t like the idea of having myself to create the exercises from which my skills depend: at the time I’m learning, it’s unlikely I’m going to foresee the challenges to which I’m gonna be exposed at work, hence the need for exercises created by someone with a higher degree of expertise. Moreover, technical difficulties oftentimes unfold in a way these books do not predict, or mention in a way that is far too theoretic.

]]> By: Adiel http://www.daltonfilho.com/2008/03/21/the-training-we-lack/#comment-19 Adiel Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:08:42 +0000 http://www.daltonfilho.com/2008/03/21/the-training-we-lack/#comment-19 It's interesting that you complain about books not having exercises... while I'm not a devoted reader of computer-related books, over the years I have leaned toward preferring books *without* exercises. I always find the exercises were not written for me, but for some other reader. Plus, it seems that books with exercises are too didactic. Using an anology, when I buy a grammar, I look for the ones with no exercises. If I want exercises, I will find my own way of practicing, like reading texts on the web or talking to people on Skype. *Examples*, on the other hand, are always welcome (especially in programming). An example may save a not-so-clear paragraph or chapter from being incomprehensible. It’s interesting that you complain about books not having exercises… while I’m not a devoted reader of computer-related books, over the years I have leaned toward preferring books *without* exercises.

I always find the exercises were not written for me, but for some other reader. Plus, it seems that books with exercises are too didactic. Using an anology, when I buy a grammar, I look for the ones with no exercises. If I want exercises, I will find my own way of practicing, like reading texts on the web or talking to people on Skype.

*Examples*, on the other hand, are always welcome (especially in programming). An example may save a not-so-clear paragraph or chapter from being incomprehensible.

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