[rilita]

tldr:

- Books written for "beginners" target people who already know how to code

- Author's book targets people before that

- Most programmers are bad at teaching people how to code

- Recommends some arbitrary phraseology to differentiate levels of ability

- Until someone learns the basics of 4 languages they don't really know how to code

- Demands people only use the term "beginner" for people who can't code, and "early" for those who can.

This is great and all, but it comes off mostly like a whiny complaint about how most development books are aimed at a group of people who already have a basic knowledge of coding.

The has already been addressed by the so called "dummy" series of books. They were aimed directly at the audience the author is saying are being left behind.

I'm not sure I am seeing a real issue here. Go to the bookstore, browse through the books, pick the one you can comprehend and seems to be aimed at whatever your level is. Done.

[clebio]

It's a pervasive, persistent problem. It's exceedingly common to talk with coworkers, or people at a meetup, who assume a bunch of domain knowledge for their domain, and are dismissive when you don't know that knowledge. And then you find they aren't aware of some other domain. The worst is when the same ideas are used in different domains under different names. There is often no level-setting, either. Compare statistics, machine-learning, and CS language about the same topic.

The 'for-dummy' books are only a tiny sliver, and it's often hard to tell from skimming a book (or from the ToC on Amazon) what a particular book's target is.

[calibraxis]

> it comes off mostly like a whiny complaint

And how would you say your post comes off?

[rilita]

A warning for people who value their time.

[clebio]

It's also a fairly short read. I cull media mercilessly, but this was easy enough to just read, in full.

[avinassh]

I love Zedshaw's Python book, but it is not really for complete beginners. So, his book also fits into:

    - Books written for "beginners" target people who already know how to code

[barry-cotter]

I've read Learn Python the Hard Way and the Head First Guide to Programming (which teaches programming through Python). While LPTHW does beat you with the stick of your own ignorance until you achieve enlightenment more neither of them assume anything more basic than the ability to think abstractly. The only way I can see of demanding less in the way of prerequisites is using a ~non-abstract programming language, maybe Scratch or Logo fit the bill?