Head First (book series)
Head First is a series of introductory instructional books to many topics, published by O'Reilly Media. It stresses an unorthodox, visually intensive, reader-involving combination of puzzles, jokes, nonstandard design and layout, and an engaging, conversational style to immerse the reader in a given topic.
Originally, the series covered programming and software engineering, but is now expanding to other topics in science, mathematics and business, due to success[1]. The series was created by Bert Bates and Kathy Sierra, and began with Head First Java in 2003.
Concept
The main idea of the series is to effectively stimulate the brain by: [1]
- Telling stories
- Visualizing
- Using attention-grabbing tactics: page layout, non-standard examples, puzzles, jokes, and other means.
By using metacognition[2] the series' authors and editors try to employ varied methods to present information and accelerate the learning process.
Books
The official web site for the Head First series has forums for each book as well as code downloads and sample chapters. They include:
- Head First Software Development (ISBN 0-596-52735-7) by Dan Pilone and Russ Miles
- Head First PMP (ISBN 0-596-10234-8) by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman
- Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (ISBN 0-596-00867-8) by Brett McLaughlin, Gary Pollice and David West
- Head First Ajax (ISBN 0-596-51578-2) by Rebecca Riordan
- Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML (ISBN 0-596-10197-X) by Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman
- Head First Java (ISBN 0-596-00920-8) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
- Head First Design Patterns (ISBN 0-596-00712-4) by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
- Head First SQL (ISBN 0-596-52684-9) by Lynn Beighley
- Head First Rails (ISBN 0-596-51577-4) by David Griffiths
- Head First Servlets & JSPs (ISBN 0-596-51668-1) by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
- Head First JavaScript (ISBN 0-596-52774-8) by Michael Morrison
- Head First PHP & MySQL (ISBN 0-596-00630-3) by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
- Head First Statistics (ISBN 0-596-52758-6) by Dawn Griffiths
- Head First iPhone Development (ISBN 0-596-80354-0) by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
- Head First Programming (ISBN 0-596-80237-4) by Paul Barry and David Griffiths
The offerings in the Head First series are quickly expanding and also delving into subjects that are not directly related to IT, such as Math (Head First Algebra, Head First Statistics), Science (Head First Physics) and project management (Head First PMP). The books are also gaining some popularity for classroom use because of their novel approach to their subject matters.
Head First Labs
O'Reilly established Head First Labs, where books of the series are presented and the main idea behind the series is explained. The Labs also hosts blogs by some of their authors and hosts some applets that complement their books.
Awards
The books in the series have received three nominations for Product Excellence Jolt Awards, winning in 2005 for Head First Design Patterns, and were recognized on Amazon.com's yearly top 10 list for computer books from 2003 to 2005.
References
- ↑ "How Head First Helps You Learn". http://www.headfirstlabs.com/about.php. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ↑ "The Head First Formula". http://www.headfirstlabs.com/readme.php. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
External links
- Head First Labs
- Blog and blog archive of Head First Labs
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