The
review on the back of this book says:
"This is a book of 'why,' not 'how'."
This should really read "This is a book of '
wtf?!'". Also, I now realise that there is a comma inside those
quote marks. That's an indication of too much programming on my part.
See how I'm making witty asides, and straying from the point? You should expect that in this book. you should also get used to the constant discussion of food (oh, and jokes about coffee, naturally). Most annoying to many, the chapters have little cartoon pictures to start each chapter. Featuring coffee cups. Ho-ho.
In fact, once we get down to it, the most irritating thing about this book is that you have to read it several times to even begin to understand what it's trying to teach you; pattern. Or, specifically, the visitor pattern, and a few other bits and bobs. Or perhaps it's the layout that's irritating, with header-like lines across the page, separating a question (or joke about coffee) from an answer (or joke about coffee).
Those used to picking up a programming book and going to a chapter on, say, arrays or IO or...whatever will be sorely dissapointed. On the other hand, I suspect that (after reading it seven times) the lessons given have sunk in, making me a little better at writing clean, elegant code.