Introduction to Regular Expressions

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

Finally, a book that treats databases & big data with the care it deserves.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.