Processing; a Programming handbook for Visual Designers and Artists is a godsend for those of us who still like learning from books. Processing is a free open source software package that runs on Mac, PC and Linux. Because Processing is free this book is unlike any other software book you've read. The authors are not constantly promoting their software, in fact the book is full of examples of artists who are doing projects with OTHER software packages. This book is two things, an in-depth look at Processing, and a survey of art using electronics complete with short interviews with a few artists. There's even an "introduction to electronics" chapter.

Processing is designed for the novice who is coming to programming and electronic art for the first time, and this book is a great companion for that student. For the non-novice, there are some useless pages of simple code, and projects that you know already. But there's enough depth here that purchasing the book still makes sense for the experienced programmer / artist, she will just be wishing it was a little lighter so she can take it with her on the subway.