Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore

3 hours ago

Programming book sales are declining sharply, with a 16.9% drop in 2023 and a 22.3% fall in professional books by 2025.
The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, along with declining activity on platforms like Stack Overflow, has reduced demand for traditional programming books.
Programming books, though slow and disciplined, were an imperfect medium for teaching software, as they required manual typing that fostered learning through practice.
The shift to AI-assisted coding represents a change in skill development, with new programmers working at higher levels of abstraction, while physical programming books become nostalgic relics.

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