Entertaining technical books

I must have read dozens of books about programming and related disciplines. Some are dull as ditchwater, but a lot of these are admirably clear in explaining and presenting the information they need to get across. Very, very few are actually what I’d consider a good read, however.

So, for the record, here are three notable exceptions - techy books that made me laugh out loud:

• Philip and Alex’s Guide to Web Publishing (online or hard copy)
  This book from MIT lecturer, photographer and all-round brilliant person Philip Greenspun is a great introduction to database-backed websites. Although the system he describes (ArsDigita Community Server - a mix of AOLServer, Tcl and Oracle) is esoteric and pretty much defunct, the quality of writing is excellent, and all of the underlying concepts hold true. Philip speaks with humour, passion, and has a healthy skepticism of Internet Entrepreneurs (”the world’s grubbiest club”).
• Dive into Python (online or hard copy)
  This is a super-fast-paced introduction to Python for experienced programmers, written by Mark Pilgrim. In it, he provides an extremely comprehensive introduction to Python and some real-world programming examples. However, more than this, he lets you see the kind of mindset you need to get the most out of it, as well as pre-empting a lot of potential pitfalls and nagging questions that you would have about the language and his example code. Most importantly of all, he does so with accessible prose and understated wit.
• why’s (poignant) guide to Ruby (online and hard copy)
  Written by somebody known only as why the lucky stiff, this is quite the most bonkers computer programming book I’ve ever come across. A huge, meandering journey across the Ruby landscape, copiously illustrated with cartoons and peppered with surreal asides. If you looking for ‘just the facts’, you’ve come to the wrong place, but if you want to be hugely entertained while picking up a fair bit of Ruby, then this is the book for you. Hilarious and utterly, utterly brilliant.

So… those are my picks. Leave a comment with your own suggestions for other techy books that should be considered as cracking good reads.