Technical Books

Is there any site for technical books reviews and comments. So that it is very useful before reading the book. source

I got half an hour on the train to and from work. It's hard to use that time for coding on anything serious, but it works allright for reading half a chapter or so in a book. source

Beautiful Code is a great one I haven't seen mentioned here yet. It's not exactly slim, but as a compilation of short essays is very well-suited to couch reading. source

If I was an employer, a good portfolio would be the biggest selling point. Experience is also good, but while you can always give some experience, it's harder to teach someone how to be good at something. If you have a good portfolio, even if you don't have much work experience, then at least the employer knows that eventually, you'll produce good work while being efficient and knowledgeable in business. As Stomme poes pointed out, I'd also be weary of doing a course in a fast progressing field such as web development, as there's a good possibility at least some of what you'll learn is out-dated or redundant. Personally, I don't think you can beat self-teaching. Buy a few books, but more importantly, do a lot of playing around with the technologies you're learning, and read a lot of online articles and forums. This way, you get a broader pictures and are able to decide what techniques work best for you, not what technique is easiest to teach or write about. source

All the above books are excellent and on my list to reread every few years as they are timeless. Another one to add is Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley Bentley . It is more low level than others, but still very relevant code. source