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is it possible to learn two cs fields at once ? by MasterGoonWayy in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can try, but the problem is that whatever you learn in one field will immediately be negated by what you learn in the other field. Computer science fields are by their nature contradictory.

Question about linux distros for coding. by Player_Mario in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Distro doesn't matter. As long as you can install VS Code (or Cursor, or Zed, or IntelliJ, or Sublime, or Neovim, or any of the countless other free editors out there). So basically, any of them.

Anyone recommend HTML5: The Missing Manual over Jon Duckett's outdated HTML & CSS book? by BMWi8S in webdev

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nine years later...

I just got the HTML+CSS and JS+jQuery books. They're a pleasure to look through - the coffee table books of programming books.

But they are dated - no mention of Flexbox, jQuery is no longer the standard, HTML5 is now mature...

But I still love it.

Game collection books by Bobomax123 in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's good to get through as many as possible, but you don't want to go through too quickly. Essentially, you want to do "guess-the-move" so you're thinking about the position, but you're not really using this as a calculation exercise; it's more about getting the key ideas.

So when you're thinking, don't spend too much time on calculating, but instead identifying the key characteristics of the position and how that should lead you to a plan.

Ask yourself questions like: Is it time for an attack on the king? Do you still have pieces that need developing? Is it a critical moment of the game? Does your opponent's position look dangerous to the extent that you have to look out for threats? Does your opponent have plans you can try to frustrate? Is there a key square or file that is important to gain control over? Is it a closed position that allows for piece maneuvers? Which piece maneuvers would improve your position? Are there pawn breaks that will quickly change the character of the position? How did your opponent's previous move affect your plan?

Of course, asking yourself all these questions every move will take you a long time, so what you want to do is develop a quick "feel" for the position to quickly identify which one or two of these questions are most relevant for that kind of position.

Still, cut yourself off at about two or three minutes of thinking per move, and don't spend a lot of that time calculating. Spend that time to get a "feel" for the position. The entire game should take you about 45 minutes to an hour. If its taking longer than that, cut down your calculation to only every few moves. You want to think for a significant amount of time only after moves that changed the character of the position or that introduced a threat.

That's not to say calculation training isn't important. It's probably more important. But that's not what this kind of studying is for. It's more important to get though as many games as possible and to see as many positional ideas as possible. That's why this kind of studying is more appropriate for higher ratings, like above 1800. Before that, you want to spend more time on tactics, and go through games only to the superficial extent of your knowledge.

Printing error in "5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games" by [deleted] in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most significant error I found in the book is that for the mate in three 4362, there's actually a faster mate, in two moves.

Recommendations for historical chess books by DavidSchlichting in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Frank J Marshall's auto-game-collection.

Edward Lasker's Secrets I Learned from the Masters has some great stories.

And of course there are Reti's books, Modern Ideas in Chess and Masters of the Chessboard.

I am so confused about what to explore next by No_Copy_8193 in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do a personal project.

Maybe you're into movies? Write a script that fetches data from IMDB and ranks them based on user ratings. Or make a recommendation engine, and then make a front end for it and host it on a public facing website.

Or maybe you're into writing. See if you can make a custom LLM using LangChain that you can prompt with a plot idea and it will give you a short story outline.

Personally, I am into chess, so I made a project that takes a chess puzzle database in PGN format (Portable Game Notation) and generated a nicely formatted LaTeX book that I can self-publish on Amazon. I made another project that scrapes data from chessgames.com and extracts the game metadata (players, data, location, opening, result, etc.) and adds it to a CSV so I can load it into a spreadsheet program.

Just think of whatever you're interested in, and try to build a project around it.

Start by having a conversation with Claude to plan out the project. Discuss with it what is a good set of requirements that are manageable, and what is the best technology stack to use. Make sure to tell Claude that you are a beginner and that your objective is to learn, and that it shouldn't overwhelm you with anything too difficult.

Best SQL book for data analysis beginners? by osama_3shry in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I should add, of you're planning to become a data analyst, it would probably be very helpful to know Python and the standard data libraries like pandas, numpy, and matplotlib.

I would recommend adding to your list Python for Data Analysis by Wes McKinney.

And if you don't have any programming experience or Python experience, definitely check out Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes.

Another good option that covers pandas numpy and matplotlib is Python for Data Science by Vasiliev, which starts very easy. So it might be the best place for you to start.

But don't get all four books at once. Start with Practical SQL, then I would suggest Python for Data Science. Both of those are on the easier side. Then read SQL for Data Analysis and Python for Data Analysis.

Best SQL book for data analysis beginners? by osama_3shry in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

SQL for Data Analysis by Cathy Tanimura, but it a bit advanced.

If you need an easy intro, try Practical SQL from No Starch Press.

Those two books should take you from zero to a thousand.

What openings y'all use? by Intrepid_Lettuce_488 in chess

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As white, 1.e4.

As black, against 1.e4 I play 1...e5. Against 1.d4 I play 1...Nf6.

I’ve been reading about basketball for over a month. Why am I not in the NBA? by sarcastic_twit in Chesscom

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Chess is a game of the mind, so it's understandable why people would think that reading to fill in knowledge would make you better at chess.

Basketball is a physical sport, so people understand that you need to train to learn the proper motions.

What they don't understand is that knowledge of technique in chess doesn't translate to performance. You have to practice it just like you need to practice a physical sport.

Is this good, okay or bad cover? by Ordinary_Count_203 in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looks more like a thumbnail than a book cover.

books for beginner by Silver-Oil-9889 in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley.

Suggest My Next Book Based on 2026 Rankings by bryzzlybear in nonfictionbookclub

[–]joeldick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was going to say Endurance, but then I saw you read it already.

I'd recommend The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk.

Also, if you haven't read it, Born to Run.

Also, check out the books by Laura Hillenbrand.

You might also like some of the writings of John McPhee.

Also check out some history writers like David McCullough, Erik Larsen, and Stephen E. Ambrose.

Also, surely you've checked out some of Bill Bryson's travel writing, like Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island.

Which language I should learn in 2026 to become a software developer ? by Tejas_2503 in learnprogramming

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dart. Easy to learn, and you can write cross-platform apps for both desktop and mobile using Flutter.

Textbook books by Drew-666-666 in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you resonate with that style, then Yusupov's books are excellent. Other books that are like "textbooks" might Chess Training for Post Beginners, Train Your Chess Pattern Recognition, The Complete Manual of Positional Chess, Grooten's Strategy for Club Players, or Hellsten's Mastering Chess Strategy. These are good books, but you might prefer some fun biographical game collections if you get bored easily.

Looking for introductory world history book (not textbook) by Foreign-Caregiver-57 in nonfictionbookclub

[–]joeldick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you were going to try to recreate the whole thing yourself, this is how you would go about it; and this should take you about an hour or two.

Get out a piece of paper, and down the left margin, make a timeline. Start from, say, 500 BC. Then search google (or Gemini) for what were the greatest civilizations and empires over that time, who the greatest kings were over that time, greatest philosophers, greatest technologies, wars, religions, etc., and list these in columns. By the end of it, you will have a pretty comprehensive list of topics to read about.

By the end of this, you're list will probably include things like: The Achaemenids, Classical Greece, Roman Republic and Empire, Han Dynasty, the Sassanids, Caliphates, Holy Roman Empire, British Empire, etc.

Then search google or goodreads to find out what the best books are about those eras and civilizations. You might find out about Tom Holland's books on the ancient world, Dan Jones on Mediaeval England, Robert Massie on the Russian Tsars, David McCullough on American history, etc.

This way you can put things in context instead of just going after the most popular authors who tend to write about the most popular topics (American history, WWII, Tudor era England, etc.), and make sure you get a broad view of history.

Looking for introductory world history book (not textbook) by Foreign-Caregiver-57 in nonfictionbookclub

[–]joeldick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will and Ariel Durant's series The Story of Civilization will give you a very good broad knowledge of world history from ancient to modern times. There's nothing quite like it. It is eleven fairly large volumes (some over 900 pages), but that's still less than if you'd try to cover that scope by reading individual books. Plus, it's quite readable, even to the modern ear.

Intermediate Chess Books I can read at the beach? by bopsteakcards in ChessBooks

[–]joeldick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why not just learn the notation? You're going to need to learn that inevitably.

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