Ask HN: How do you speed read technical books?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7424736

by bhaisaab • 12 years ago

3 4 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What is your technique to speed read and finish technical books (such as on programming languages, cs theory etc.) as fast as possible?

runjake• 12 years ago

I don't, because that's the wrong way to approach such texts. In order to learn programming languages and theory, you must learn by doing.

If I'm looking something up for reference, I still use a speed reading technique I learned from my high school teacher back in the 80s.

She was on an episode of the 80s show, "That's Incredible" where a student of hers read War & Peace in some ridiculously short amount of time.

I have no information on what speed reading courses are legit or whatever, but hers certainly was, despite all the disbelief at the time. Of course, the featured student was a major exception. I think I was her top speed reader those semesters but couldn't come close to the guy on TV. It's also not a fun way to read.

OWaz• 12 years ago

May I ask why you would want to speed read a technical book?

infinii• 12 years ago

outsource the page flipping

jamestomasino• 12 years ago

I use the Evelyn Wood techniques for topics like this. You'll make several passes through the text with different goals each time.

On the first pass you read the TOC, chapter headings, section headings and so on. You are trying to absorb the structure of the book (or chapter if you want to do it 1 chapter at a time).

The next pass you are making sweeping scans of each page, taking in high-level information and building on the structure you've already established.

If you've developed vertical reading at all, you can use it for the last pass, or any other technique you've worked up to.

One thing to note, I don't use anything besides good old fashioned close reading when it comes to code examples. Dig through them in detail or risk missing the point. Code is not like natural language and you won't get the same benefits from speed reading it.

Ask HN: How do you speed read technical books?

Related Stories