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, Science and project management. 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 GreeneHead First Ajax by Rebecca RiordanHead First Algebra by Dan Pilone and Tracey PiloneHead First Android Development by Dawn Griffiths and David GriffithsHead First C by David Griffiths and Dawn GriffithsHead First C# by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer GreeneHead First Data Analysis by Michael MiltonHead First Design Patterns by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra and Bert BatesHead First EJB by Kathy Sierra and Bert BatesHead First Excel by Michael MiltonHead First 2D Geometry by Lindsey Fallow and Dawn GriffithsHead First Git by Raju GandhiHead First Go by Jay McGavrenHead First HTML and CSS by Elisabeth Robson and Eric FreemanHead First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Elisabeth Freeman and Eric FreemanHead First HTML5 Programming by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth RobsonHead First iPhone Development by Dan Pilone and Tracey PiloneHead First iPhone and iPad Development by Dan Pilone and Tracey PiloneHead First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert BatesHead First JavaScript by Michael Morrison Head First JavaScript Programming by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth FreemanHead First jQuery by Ryan Benedetti and Ronan CranleyHead First Kotlin by Dawn Griffiths and David Griffiths Head First Learn to Code by Eric FreemanHead First Mobile Web by Lyza Danger Gardner, Jason GrigsbyHead First Networking by Ryan Benedetti, Al AndersonHead First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design by Brett McLaughlin, Gary Pollice and David WestHead First PHP & MySQL by Lynn Beighley and Michael MorrisonHead First Physics by Heather LangHead First PMP by Jennifer Greene and Andrew StellmanHead First Programming by Paul Barry and David GriffithsHead First Python by Paul BarryHead First Rails by David GriffithsHead First Ruby by Jay McGavrenHead First Servlets & JSP by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert BatesHead First Software Architecture by Raju Gandhi, Mark Richards and Neal FordHead First Software Development by Dan Pilone and Russ MilesHead First SQL by Lynn BeighleyHead First Statistics by Dawn GriffithsHead First Web Design by Ethan Watrall and Jeff SiartoHead 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.