Yah PBRT was my most important resource for completing this project, way more important than anything I learned in course lectures.
I read it cover to cover before doing much, but then made sure I wrote things how I wanted without referencing the book except for a few bits of formula-heavy code I mention in the credits.
Definitely the best technical book I've ever read.
Have you tried reading it? Because PBRT is by far one of the best programming-oriented books I've read.
The literate programming style used works very well, making it easy to follow the code as the authors works it out and how it connects with the math or more abstract ideas.
Of course, it's not light reading so reading it in bed might indeed be sleep inducing. But that's hardly something you can hold against it.
I used to read programming books cover to cover 25 years ago when I was in High School/College. I don't do it so much these days, the books aren't as useful and I know too much so most of it ends up being redundant now.
If you're learning something new you can consume voraciously.
I'm just wondering how people retain the content? I've read a lot of books over the last few years to learn AI/programming ranging from Sutton/Barto's Reinforcement Learning to Scott Meyer's Effective C++ series, and so much of it ends up flying away from my brain.
I'm like this. I find topics fascinating, but I don't have good memory retention. I find that I allow the subjects to influence me rather than creating a catalog of stuff to reference in my brain.
Agreed. I let the author’s brain temporarily take over mine by thinking the words of the book for so long. And, instead of copying the material to my brain, it becomes more of an index. I know these ideas exist, can be referenced, and roughly where to find them if necessary.
You just have to actually use what you read/learn to retain it. But that's common in all fields, not just software. It can be fun to read things without plans to retain/use the information, because that is a skill in its own right: devouring and soaking up knowledge.
I read it cover to cover before doing much, but then made sure I wrote things how I wanted without referencing the book except for a few bits of formula-heavy code I mention in the credits.
Definitely the best technical book I've ever read.