Comments on: O’Reilly On The State Of Computer Languages http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2006/08/09/oreilly-on-the-state-of-computer-languages/ Simon Brocklehurst's Technology Blog Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:59:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Aree Cohen http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2006/08/09/oreilly-on-the-state-of-computer-languages/#comment-28004 Aree Cohen Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:24:50 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/?p=166#comment-28004 Using book sales as a measure of programming language popularity seems to be a pretty simplistic and short sighted yardstick. As a developer, I only go out to purchase a programming book if I can't find the level of detailed information I need on the net. Large sales of books can also imply that there are less teaching resources for that topic on the internet - otherwise known as the information super highway. Moreover, I believe that as a language becomes more popular, there is a proportional increase in the amount of tutorials and other teaching resources on the internet, further slowing the book sales rate for that programming language. With all that said, pretty colourful charts are fun to look at Using book sales as a measure of programming language popularity seems to be a pretty simplistic and short sighted yardstick. As a developer, I only go out to purchase a programming book if I can’t find the level of detailed information I need on the net. Large sales of books can also imply that there are less teaching resources for that topic on the internet - otherwise known as the information super highway. Moreover, I believe that as a language becomes more popular, there is a proportional increase in the amount of tutorials and other teaching resources on the internet, further slowing the book sales rate for that programming language. With all that said, pretty colourful charts are fun to look at

]]> By: Truth about book sales http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2006/08/09/oreilly-on-the-state-of-computer-languages/#comment-4937 Truth about book sales Sat, 12 Aug 2006 17:28:20 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/?p=166#comment-4937 Is that it reflects what people don't know about as well as an interest in knowing about stuff. This is why publishers are always looking for and hyping the next big thing - to drive book sales. A sign of success is if something isn't new and still sells lots of books. There is lots of noise on the web about apple but doesn't mean they are the major OS, perhaps gaining a little share recently, but still a curiosity to most people than work horse. Is that it reflects what people don’t know about as well as an interest in knowing about stuff. This is why publishers are always looking for and hyping the next big thing - to drive book sales. A sign of success is if something isn’t new and still sells lots of books.

There is lots of noise on the web about apple but doesn’t mean they are the major OS, perhaps gaining a little share recently, but still a curiosity to most people than work horse.

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