Probably like everyone else here, one of my goals in life is to keep learning as much as possible as it relates to computers, development, and so on. And one of my favorite ways of doing so is by reading published books. I find them to be the perfect fit for me because they have structure and tend to be thought out a little more than online tutorials that sometimes seems like they are slapped together in hopes to get some quick "link-love" for google SERPs.
So with this in mind.. I thought I'd see if anyone would want to contribute any top recommendations as to what books you thought were really good, in any subject or genre in the computer world. Whether technical, entertaining, or no matter how esoteric, I'd be interested in hearing what books you found most interesting or helpful in any field of study.
Here are a few of mine:
PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide by Larry Ullman
http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Dynamic ... 434&sr=1-1
- Honestly, I don't know where I would be in my php/mysql if it wasn't for this book. I had tried all the online tutorials and about 4 different php/mysql books before this one and just "didn't get it". But once I read this one... it was like a lightbulb went off. If you are just starting off... this book is it.
Essential PHP Security by Chris Shifflet
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-PHP-Sec ... 571&sr=1-1
- Most php/mysql books don't cover even the most essential of security practices that really are a must for any developer. This book is an easy introduction to solid security-minded scripting, with some great examples that you can use right from the book. A must read.
The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Digital ... 698&sr=1-3
- The mother of all Photoshop books (and trust me, I know). This guy really knows how to write photoshop books. No unnecessary theory or jargon... he shows you the end result, then the steps it takes to get there from a source photo. Learn the techniques first in this book, then pickup other, more "theory-minded" books when your interest piques you further.
The Definitive Guide to Apache mod_rewrite by Rich Bowen
http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Guide- ... 831&sr=1-1
- An absolutely amazing book covering everything you ever wanted to know about rewrites, maps and regex. I tried all the online tutorials first and got NO WHERE. Maybe I'm just slow to pickup stuff, but this book was EASY. Within a day I was writing rewrites that were completely what I was looking for for my web apps. And Rich Bowen gives great advice on apache optimizations and configurations all along the way. Another must.
CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions by Andy Budd
http://www.amazon.com/CSS-Mastery-Advan ... 004&sr=1-2
- This wasn't my first CSS book that I had read. In fact, I had read some really good ones before this and was quite comfortable with CSS. But I think of all of them, this one was the best. While I wouldn't suggest this book to a beginner, eventhough you could start with this book, it just has GOOD, SOLID stuff in it for people wanting to write QUALITY css. And that is really what it's all about.
Your Top Recommendations
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Re: Your Top Recommendations
A must for mysql tuning
High Performance MySQL
http://www.amazon.com/High-Performance- ... 0596003064
High Performance MySQL
http://www.amazon.com/High-Performance- ... 0596003064