Learn Batch Scripting in 20 Minutes (Coffee Break Series) (Paperback)

Better than I expected. Rare to find a technical book this well judged.

This is the third book I have read on windows desktop this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Not quite what I expected from the description, but there is material here.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. 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. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.