Graphics and Compute: Primer Volume 1 (Hardback)

Three stars feels about right. Useful, but not essential.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Fine, but there are stronger books on the same subject if you look around.

Exactly the book I needed. Straight to the point and genuinely useful.

I have been working with programming for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The chapters on programming are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.