Reader reviews

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

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with javascript.

This is the one to get if you are serious about analytics.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The chapters on analytics are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Good book. The writing is direct and the author is honest about limits.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

An enjoyable and informative read, though it could have been shorter.

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 is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

Mixed feelings. The good parts are genuinely good; the rest is forgettable.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. 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. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.

Well worth picking up if you already have the basics.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.