stefanluptak
How do you read technical eBooks?
I am looking for an inspiration regarding reading eBooks. Which format do you use, which reader etc.? Is it even a thing with ebooks for developers?
I tried reading ebooks (from pragprog mainly) on a Kindle in the past and it was a pain. Slow, small, source code formatting suffered. iPad was quite OK, but it’s heavy, can be very expensive and doesn’t have an eInk display.
Did the situation with the ebook readers improve? Is there some that is good enough for reading technical texts with source code snippets?
I know paper books have their charm etc., but sometimes that’s not an option. I am curious how you are doing it. 
Thanks.
Most Liked
tomkonidas
For technical books with code I like to read on my laptop (PDF or ePub) using the Apple Books app (remembers my position where I left off), that way I can code along as I read. For technical books that do not involve as much coding and more about ideas/concepts, I read on my Kobo.
Lucassifoni
My Kobo Clara is perfect for that, but I vastly prefer ePubs (even if I lose some of the publisher’s intent about layout) to PDFs. PDFs feel a bit clunky on that small of a screen with their layout preserved.
A few years ago I had tried an acquintance’s ebook reader and did not get the impression I would use one.
Lucassifoni
I use a 6" black and white. I feared the colour version would add too much interaction ability and be distracting. But maybe it’s nice too.
I also love (and prefer) paper books, but recently started doing bicycle hikes over a few days, so the weight / length(pages) ratio of an ebook reader in my bag is great !
Last Post!
matt-savvy
For me, it depends on the kind of book. Is it something to be worked through, or just something to be read?
If it’s an in-depth programming book, it’s something to be worked through. I usually just want it on a PDF so I can alt-tab between my terminal (where I’m working on the project) and the book. For example, I’m currently reading Designing Elixir Systems with OTP and each part has about 50/50 code to type in and experiment with / concepts to share. I honestly just use stock PDF reader for the OS
If it’s something to be read, I’ll either get it paper or ebook, but preferably paper. Examples here would be Grokking Simplicity or The Pragmatic Programmer - both books where there are code snippets for sure, but not ones you’re expected to type in and run. For these ebooks, I’ll get them in whatever format available and convert to AZW3 and transfer onto my old kindle paperwhite.
Popular in Discussions
Other popular topics
Chat & Discussions>Discussions
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #deployment
- #library
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #channels
- #elixirconf
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #javascript
- #podcasts
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ecto-query
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #blog-post
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #ai
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #elixirconf-us
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #api
- #forms
- #metaprogramming
- #security
- #hex
Our Sponsors
Build Elixir applications with speed and confidence.
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Error tracking, logs, uptime, and Just Enough APM. Built for developers.
Practical resources that improve the lives of professional developers.
Enabling companies to succeed by building software people love.
The deployment platform built for Elixir: PaaS ease, VPS control.
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"