2018 Book Review
Greetings friends! This is just a quick review of the books I read in 2018. Probably missing a few.
The Pragmatic Bookshelf have been ON FIRE with their Elixir books. The books they release are consistently the BEST resource for learning about that particular topic in Elixir.
This year I sat down and worked through "The Pragmatic Programmer" for the first time since college.
I found the book informative and a great framework for coding and professional development upon first reading. Re-reading years later after working as a professional software engineer, I feel the same way. In fact, I feel even more strongly that this advice in this book is GOLD.
Since my first reading, my brain has transmuted the lessons taught in this book from abstract idioms to common sense. However, I would still recommend returning to this book as an experienced software engineer. Having two great authors like Hunt and Thomas describe these practices in their excellent prose solidifies those lessons into concrete terms.
This book is a nice reference and a reasonable introduction to the Elixir language.
I find myself cracking it open frequently to double-check syntax I have forgotten or want to verify information about some part of the Elixir language.
If I had to recommend one Elixir book it would far and above be Functional Web Development in Elixir. It is chock-full of best practices and wisdom about programming in the Elixir language.
As a reference, this book is not amazing. But the design patterns it introduces to you are essential.
However, I have one complaint. The book would have been greatly improved if Halvorsen had the readers developing a test suite along the way, instead of constantly dropping into IEX and copying commands.
Great reference and introduction to metaprogramming in Elixir. More than that, working through this book was a great refresher on how compiling code and an AST work.
The best way to learn to program using the Ecto ORM. Covers a wide breadth of topics, nice clear examples. Is technically a work in progress.
I read a decent little bit of fiction, but I have no expertise in this area.
I really loved the Broken Earth series this year. Excited to receive the final book as a gift!
I read a bunch of Gene Wolfe this year. It is completely trashy sci-fi but it was a fun ride.
Jeff VanderMeer got my number this year. Excellent stuff!