Reader reviews

The clearest explanation of data visualization I have come across.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I have been working with databases & big data for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

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 author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The chapters on mathematics are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

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

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 chapters on webgpu are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

Solid and well-organised. A couple of chapters dragged a little.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The chapters on databases & big data are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.