Graphics and Compute: Primer Volume 1 (Hardback)

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

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.

Better than I expected. Rare to find a technical book this well judged.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.