

What is the worst programming book you ever read? - lathamcity
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/q/6974/62193

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mindcrime
Worst programming book? Easy, it's this one:

 _Learn OLE DB Development With Visual C++ 6.0_

[http://www.amazon.com/Learn-OLE-Development-With-
Visual/dp/1...](http://www.amazon.com/Learn-OLE-Development-With-
Visual/dp/1556226349/ref=cm_cr-mr-title)

I bought this back in like 2000-2001 or so, when I was doing a lot of C++
programming on Windows, and needed to do some work with ADO and OLEDB.
Uuuugggghhh...

My review on Amazon from back then still pretty much reflects how I feel about
this book:

 _Before buying this book, I was a little angry about the lack ofquality
documentation on using OLE DB and ADO in C++. After buyingthis book, I am
STILL angry about the lack of quality documentation on using OLE DB and ADO in
C++, AND I'm angry about being out the bucks I spent on it. This book misses
the mark on (what I took to be) it's intended audience, badly. Hardly a book
for a beginner to learn the subject, it's just a rehash of reference material
available elsewhere. Why, oh why, does Amazon not have a rating of 0 stars for
these reviews? END_

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lathamcity
My worst one was "Build Your Own Ajax Web Applications"

[http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Ajax-
Applications/dp/09...](http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Ajax-
Applications/dp/0975841947)

I got it at a used book store for $5. The second chapter was page after page
of code to build an app to be used for the rest of the book. None of it was
explained, and of course it didn't work for me and I didn't know if I'd made a
typo or if it was just outdated. The book promised that the code would be
available online, but the website was defunct. It ended up in the garbage at
the end of the school year.

