Orion's Book Reviews

Chapter 1: Designing a RESTful API to interact with a simple SQLite database There are many design considerations to decide on when starting a new project.  This section starts to go over some of those concerns, and the author concludes that Occam's Razor holds true, at least in the beginning of a new project.  Getting a proof of concept or a MVP (mininally viable project) is sometimes the best way to start moving forward with something.  There is a nice chart that goes over the HTTP verbs, and how they will be used in this project.  This is a good example of how to document things.  I think more programming books should also talk design, not just how tos. Understanding the tasks performed by each HTTP method The author quickly goes over the HTTP verbs, and how and what they will be used for in this project.  For those without an understanding of REST and its implementation, this is a nice overview of what they are and how they are used. Working w...

Building RESTful Python Web Services I'm not going to review this whole book right now.  I am only interested in the first few chapters on setting up and building a Python Django application .  Both at work and in my own personal projects, I am moving away from PHP, and towards Python. This book is very good for a beginner.  While some Python knowledge would be helpful, it is not necessary to enjoy and understand this book.  While tradeoffs must be made when writing a book, I do think the author spends more time in showing examples of how to use the API, and less time in explaining how the various pieces work.  I have been working on a API for logging data from my garden.  ( https://github.com/orionsconsulting/garden_data_django ).  While I have found the book easy to follow along with, and almost everything has worked, if you don't have a working knowledge of python, and django, you will have some trouble debugging your code to find out what is ...

Chapter 10: Short Course on Bear Hunting As with all the short course chapters, this is a quick chapter on hunting different types of bears.  Mr. Gilchrist has several tips on the different types of bears, and tips on how to distinguish between them.  In at least one western state, there is a test on how to visually tell the difference between a grizzly bear and a black bear. Of course he as tips on how to prepare a bear hide for for taxidermy, and how to score a bear as a trophy.  He also has several tips on how to tell if a bear is a trophy. Favorite Quote: "Bears often react violently to a superficial hit.  He may fall as though mortally wounded, when only hit in the paw"

Chapter 9: Short Course on Mountain Goat Hunting This chapter starts the short courses section of the book.  Each of the courses  are tips that either Duncan has learned, or he has gathered from some of the best hunters of the time.  Each one follows the same format.  Here is why you should listen to me (the author), and then various tips on how to harvest the game species in particular. While this chapter is focused on hunting mountain goats, the advice is applicable to many situations in which a hunter may find himself.  The most pertinent advice: Don't go somewhere without a plan to get back.  I've needed this advice on multiple occasions.  The last time my brother and I went hunting, we had hiked about 5 miles, before we realized that the short path back was flooded.  I knew this from previous years, but against the better advice in my head, I just let us keep on hiking.