FIND A BOOK. SKIP THE MAZE.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Hard to recommend. The examples assume too much and explain too little.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. Two stars. The subject deserves a better treatment than this.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.