When comparing Rationality: From AI to Zombies vs The Pragmatic Programmer, the Slant community recommends The Pragmatic Programmer for most people. In the question“What are the most influential books every programmer should read?” The Pragmatic Programmer is ranked 1st while Rationality: From AI to Zombies is ranked 22nd. The most important reason people chose The Pragmatic Programmer is:
Which helps you with writing flexible and adaptable code.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Will make you smarter
Your intelligence is being used to defeat itself. Learn how to stop that.
Pro Mindblowing ideas
From (friendly) AI to (philosophical) zombies. Also Pebblesorters. And why humans are insane.
Pro Fictional interludes
These are quality science fiction short stories in their own right.
Pro Funny
Pro Engaging
Pro Explains the mechanics of programming
Which helps you with writing flexible and adaptable code.
Pro Already Classic
Straight forward explanation of basic algorithms
Pro Analyses the core process without trying to sell any particular methodology
Pro Clean and straight to the point list of things to do
Cons
Con Not enough citations
Just Google it.
Con Has some highly technical references in places
Things like physics (relativity, quantum mechanics), mathematics and computer programming. Scared? Didn't think so.
Con Long
The chapters are relatively short and digestible essays and short stories. The problem: there are 333 of them. On paper, this would take volumes, but this is an ebook. You'll get a lot out of it long before you finish though.