Working through my reading list. You might infer that I'm a bit
behind because this review is about a book published in September of
2007.
You'd be correct.
"Programming Collective Intelligence" is astonishingly clear and
concise in the examples, and a brilliant introduction to the
foundations of a lot of fields of study. A well presented discussion
on many of the key items in the AI/algorithm world. Why is this so
worth repeating? Because these concepts – genetic algorithms/ AI /
optimization, etc, are NOT common nor are they simple. Anybody who
manages to make them appear so is worth of praise. The examples are
further interesting because they're written in Python, which is as
simple as a language can get. (Digression: Python 3.0's out! How come
I didn't see a flurry of news? How come there was no ball drop in
Times Square? I'm excited, and proportionately confused by some
people's reactions, like
this one. Get your copy while it's
hot!
The book is sort of the first rung of knowledge on a whole gamut of
complex topics, but that's OK because these topics become approachable
only once you've gotten the introductory tour. Finding that "tour",
the source for the inevitable epiphany, is what's so hard about these
concepts. It's even further difficult because it's not like there's a
lot of mainstream thinking going on here and these concepts just
represent a slight tangent on what you're already dealing with.
Anything but. People who know why they want to use something like
JBoss Rules already knew it. You'll notice there's no good "sales"
rhetoric on the JBoss website. It's the chicken and egg problem.
Understanding the concepts in this book is key to caring about, and
eventually understanding, things like JBoss Rules.
All in all, a very worthy read. If nothing else, it's a good
refresher.
