Programmers at Work has a new edition, so might be easier to find now! https://www.programmersatwork.net/the-book

Agreed that Code is great! I'll pick up the second edition some day if I ever see it on a bookshelf.

I know this is all ‘judge a book by its cover’, but I was really disappointed in the second edition. It’s super cheaply printed compared to the first.

Black, thin, warped, glossy cover stock instead of that super nice feeling matte white one, and much thinner nastier paper (despite being longer the book is much thinner).

I have in the past given copies of ‘Code’ to people who’ve seemed interested in learning about computer science/engineering with a ‘this book is so good!’ and upon reflection just now I’m ashamed to say I’ve stopped doing that because the book _feels_ like a cheaply made textbook rather than a nicely presented popular science book now.

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hcs 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Even later printings of the first edition of Code lose a lot of that nice hefty handbook feel, unfortunately.

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so-cal-schemer 9 hours ago | parent [-]

I've mostly stopped recommending O'Reilly books at my public library because in many cases the printing has been so bad, it's embarrassing. Just-in-time manufacturing, I guess.

It's not like the old days when books were heirlooms with attentive layouts, quality paper and ink, and solid bindings. Addison-Wesley's offerings come to mind, even softcover books from Prentice-Hall. And especially the ancient Computer Science Series from McGraw-Hill College.

Manning and No Starch do a better job these days.

Here's a new hardcover many here could appreciate:

Heavy Wizardry 101: Shellcodes, Backdoors, Droppers, and Worms

by David Martínez Oliveira, aka Pico

https://nostarch.com/heavy-wizardry-101

	▲	so-cal-schemer 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		s/mostly/almost/ O'Reilly still puts out many great, serious books with good formatting and decent binding + paper + printing. Many of the new titles on machine learning, for instance.