When comparing About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design vs The Pragmatic Programmer, the Slant community recommends The Pragmatic Programmer for most people. In the question“What are the best books for Developers?” The Pragmatic Programmer is ranked 3rd while About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design is ranked 7th. 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 Well known book and author
The first edition of About Face was published in 1995, and has been referenced in a variety of work since then. It's in-depth coverage of of interaction design make it a well known reference book in the industry.
The author, Alan Cooper, is a pioneer of interaction design.
Pro Comprehensive guide
About Face takes an in-depth look at a breadth of topics relevant to interaction design. It covers everything from personal development and psychology to methods and further resources.
It's a large book at 720 pages for the fourth edition, and packed with information.
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 Terrible binding
The fourth edition has had an issue with binding quality. There has been many reports of the book falling apart when opened or after a very short period of time.