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EbookFoundation
Should tutorialspoint resources be in books, or in courses?
we now have 7 of them, so far no duplicates but I'd like to hear opinions (preferably based on personal experience with them!) about which list they belong in.
Hello @eshellman I would say that it should be in books instead of courses.
From this PR, the Flask tutorial linked as a resource can be purchased in proper ebook format on the same site.
The difference with the free linked resource is that it's multiple, separated links on a webpage as opposed to one single ebook file.
Didn't realize how much I typed until I was done... so here's a TL;DR: Books
Unfortunately, I don't have personal experience with Tutorials Point myself. I've checked them out now, so I could form an opinion as a "window shopper", though.
I subjectively believe all Tutorials Point resources currently in the repository would fall under books. However, it's worth noting some of them have a respective video course available for them which is unambiguously a course. The paid video course presumably compliments the book. Tutorials Point also has dedicated courses as well, which is worth noting for future.
- Flask [Book] - Free to Read Online
- Flask [Course] ~~$174~~ $9.99 (Linked from the webpage for the book.)
I can see some resources in the courses document don't have a video course available, though, for example with Lua. If there is ambiguity between what's a course, and what's a book, perhaps these should be defined?
Looking at the dictionary definition:
a set of classes or a plan of study on a particular subject, usually leading to an exam or qualification
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/course
Looking at the Wikipedia page:
In higher education in Canada, Nigeria and the United States, a course is a unit of teaching that typically lasts one academic term, is led by one or more instructors (teachers or professors), and has a fixed roster of students... Courses generally have a fixed program of sessions every week during the term, called lessons or classes.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_(education)
Based on this I'd say a book is just any readable material, while a course is where any material including readable, is given with further instruction. This could be from a real or virtual instructor that will guide the user through how they should use those resources and at what pace?
As the resources from Tutorials Point are just readable learning material with no further instruction by default, I'd favor book over course.
We've recently add some items from TP that definitely fit into interactive tutorials.
Hi @eshellman , I would say that this should be in books instead of courses because the content here at Tutorials Points is in pdf format that you can download also while reading. I hope this helps!
I think tutorialspoint resources are fine in "books." Some tutorials have hyperlinks that complete the resource but in my opinion it would be inappropriate to put them on "interactive tutorials"
I have used Tutorial Point resources numerous times and found them to be incredibly valuable. The format of these resources, particularly the PDFs, is reminiscent of traditional books. They provide comprehensive information on a variety of topics, much like a book would.
When I use Tutorial Point, I often download the PDFs or access the text directly from the webpage. This aligns more with reading a book than participating in a course. Furthermore, the linear and self-paced nature of learning from Tutorial Point mirrors the experience of reading a book. You can start from the beginning and proceed at your own pace, choosing when to pause or revisit certain sections. This is a characteristic feature of book-based learning.
Therefore, based on my personal usage and the characteristics of Tutorial Point resources, I believe they would be more appropriately categorized under ‘Books’.
