Why I Read Technical Books
Back to books.
I suppose the original reason is that when I first got started with computing in the mid-1990s, Internet access was not yet common in the home. Books were the only resource available to me. Buying (or checking out) a book became my default method of picking up a new topic.
Even now that most information can be pieced together from free online resources, I still prefer reading technical books over other types of resources to learn new subjects. Here’s some reasons why.
Complete
Unlike The Web, you can read all of a book. When I reach the last page of a book, I can feel confident that I’ve been exposed to all the material it contained. (I may not understand it all yet, but I’ve seen it.)
An expert has filled a book with information and I’ve seen every word of it. That builds confidence.
A single voice and a single stylistic convention
A book with a single author (or several authors writing as one) has a single authorial voice. As you adjust to the writing style in the book, it becomes easier to read. The understanding and clarity comes faster. This is more than just a "feeling", it’s part of that magic of reading that Stephen King describes as being akin to telepathy.
A technical book will have a consistent style throughout. Code examples, definitions, call-outs, and asides. Understanding these conventions reduces the friction of taking in the information so you can concentrate on the topic itself.
Curated
As mentioned in "Complete" above, a good book’s contents will have been carefully chosen. The author has put a lot of thought into which things to put in the book and which to leave out.
If I read a single book on the subject, I’m putting my trust in the author to have given me what they feel I need to know.
Multiple books is twice the curation
Reading a second book on the same subject by a different author can be a very powerful thing. Now I’ve seen the material from potentially two different points of view, which should help me understand the material even more thoroughly.
Plus the meta-information: The overlap (or lack of overlap!) between the two books is also valuable: If they both cover a subject, it’s probably important. But if they include different material, that’s interesting too.
You get to keep the book
The book is yours to keep. I buy actual physical paper books for technical subjects, when I can. I like putting sticky notes in the books I’m reading as bookmarks for details I’d like to reference later.
I can pull that book off the shelf later to reference it. Unlike many websites, it will look exactly the same as the last time I read it. A frequently referenced book can function like a memory palace, giving the information a "place" where you know you’ll be able to find it again. Plus, no advertising, comments, or other distractions. Just the information, quietly waiting.
This is less practical, but: I like having the book on my shelf as a reminder of the hours I put into learning a subject. Some thin books may contain months of learning material (at least at my pace). I don’t mind the space these take up. I like having books around! The finished ones are more than just trophies and the unfinished ones are more than just a treasure horde of knowledge to be gained and trophies yet to be earned. But they are also those things.
See also: Where I Buy Books (I mention technical books specifically and some of my favorite technical book publishers.)
And these cards: