Head First (book series)

Head First (book series)
Head First is a series of introductory instructional books to many topics, published by O'Reilly Media. It stresses an unorthodox, visually intensive, reader-involving combination of puzzles, jokes, nonstandard design and layout, and an engaging, conversational style to immerse the reader in a given topic.
Originally, the series covered programming and software engineering, but is now expanding to other topics in science, mathematics and business, due to success. The series was created by Bert Bates and Kathy Sierra, and began with Head First Java in 2003.
Concept
The main idea of the series is to effectively stimulate the brain by:
Telling stories
Visualizing
Using attention-grabbing tactics: page layout, non-standard examples, puzzles, jokes, and other means.
By using metacognition the series' authors and editors try to employ varied methods to present information and accelerate the learning process.
Books
The offerings in the Head First series are quickly expanding. The books are also delving into subjects that are not directly related to IT, such as Math (Head First Algebra, Head First Statistics), Science (Head First Physics) and project management (Head First PMP). The books are also gaining some popularity for classroom use because of their novel approach to their subject matters.
The official web site for the Head First series has forums for each book as well as code downloads and sample chapters. They include:
Head First Agile by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
Head First Ajax by Rebecca Riordan
Head First Algebra by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First Android Development by Dawn Griffiths and David Griffiths
Head First C by David Griffiths and Dawn Griffiths
Head First C# by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
Head First Data Analysis by Michael Milton
Head First Design Patterns by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First EJB by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First Excel by Michael Milton
Head First 2D Geometry by Lindsey Fallow and Dawn Griffiths
Head First Git by Raju Gandhi
Head First Go by Jay McGavren
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman
Head First HTML5 Programming by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Robson
Head First iPhone Development by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First iPhone and iPad Development by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First JavaScript by Michael Morrison (Out of Print)
Head First JavaScript Programming by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman
Head First jQuery by Ryan Benedetti and Ronan Cranley
Head First Kotlin by Dawn Griffiths and David Griffiths
Head First Learn to Code by Eric Freeman
Head First Mobile Web by Lyza Danger Gardner, Jason Grigsby
Head First Networking by Ryan Benedetti, Al Anderson
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design by Brett McLaughlin, Gary Pollice and David West
Head First PHP & MySQL by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
Head First Physics by Heather Lang
Head First PMP by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman
Head First Programming by Paul Barry and David Griffiths
Head First Python by Paul Barry
Head First Rails by David Griffiths
Head First Servlets & JSP by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First Software Development by Dan Pilone and Russ Miles
Head First SQL by Lynn Beighley
Head First Statistics by Dawn Griffiths
Head First Web Design by Ethan Watrall and Jeff Siarto
Head First WordPress by Jeff Siarto
Head First Labs
O'Reilly established Head First Labs, where books of the series are presented and the main idea behind the series is explained. The Labs also hosts blogs by some of their authors and hosts some applets that complement their books.
Awards
The books in the series have received three nominations for Product Excellence Jolt Awards, winning in 2005 for Head First Design Patterns, and were recognized on Amazon.com's yearly top 10 list for computer books from 2003 to 2005.
References
External links
Computer books
O'Reilly Media books
Java (programming language)
Series of books