I Read Java How To Program by Deitel And This Is What I Learned

Programmers are readers, they learn new things constantly and they do this more by reading than by any other means.

When I started learning to code in Java, I started with video tutorials from YouTube- with Bucky Roberts beginner tutorials- and like I advised in my other post, I left the tutorials after getting to a point and decided to continue with a textbook instead; so I picked Java How to program by Deitel.

As you would expect, the book was voluminous; it had 31 chapters and was about 1498 pages.

A book of such volume should scare a beginner (as I was then, but won’t call myself an expert now either), and probably make him/her quit; if reading big books is all that is required to learn Java.

I, however, started reading from the first page; I envisaged that I could read and finish it in less than 2 weeks, (funny right), but it didn't take two weeks to finish, it took me almost two months to read 70% of the book

My strategy for reading the book was like nothing I have ever done before; it was a daily routine. And though I couldn't get to the last chapter (I still haven’t, not that I have to), I learned more from the process than from the content of the book.

Reading the book consistently for such a long period of time helped me developed discipline and resilience and eliminated the fear that I usually had of reading voluminous books, I do not think I could have learned this in any better way.

Programmers are readers, they learn new things constantly and they do this more by reading more than by any other means. After my encounter with Deitel, reading voluminous texts to learn a programming language (or anything at all; algorithms and financial accounting already in my mind) was no longer as hard as it appeared to be. As a programmer, this is a skill that you have to develop.

If huge and voluminous books are still daunting to you, follow my example and just start from the first page, that is all you have to do, just start. It might not take you two months to finish (it might be more than or less than two months), Just starting from the first chapter is all you need with discipline, and in no time your resilience will be built up and you might end up preferring big books to smaller ones.

Straight to the point, this is all this article is about. Very short right?

What experience have you had with reading books on programming, have you ever read any to the last chapter?

Share your thoughts and experience in the comment box below.

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