Reader reviews

Exactly the book I needed. Straight to the point and genuinely useful.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The chapters on ai & machine learning are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with ai & machine learning.

Almost excellent. A second edition could easily push it to five stars.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

Useful in parts. Fine as a reference, less so as a cover-to-cover read.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.