Head First is a series of introductory instructional books to many topics, published by O'Reilly Media. It stresses an unorthodox, visually intensive, reader-involving combination of puzzles, jokes, nonstandard design and layout, and an engaging, conversational style to immerse the reader in a given topic.
Originally, the series covered programming and software engineering, but is now expanding to other topics in science, mathematics and business, due to success. The series was created by Bert Bates and Kathy Sierra, and began with Head First Java in 2003.
The main idea of the series is to effectively stimulate the brain by:
Telling stories
Visualizing
Using attention-grabbing tactics: page layout, non-standard examples, puzzles, jokes, and other means.
By using metacognition the series' authors and editors try to employ varied methods to present information and accelerate the learning process.
The offerings in the Head First series are quickly expanding. The books are also delving into subjects that are not directly related to IT, such as Math (Head First Algebra, Head First Statistics), Science (Head First Physics) and project management (Head First PMP). The books are also gaining some popularity for classroom use because of their novel approach to their subject matters.
The official web site for the Head First series has forums for each book as well as code downloads and sample chapters. They include:
Head First Ajax (ISBN 0-596-51578-2) by Rebecca Riordan
Head First Algebra (ISBN 0-596-51486-7) by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First Android Development (ISBN 1-4493-6213-3) by David Griffiths and Dawn Griffiths
Head First C (ISBN 1-4493-9991-6) by David Griffiths and Dawn Griffiths
Head First C# (ISBN 0-596-51482-4) by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
Head First Data Analysis (ISBN 0-596-15393-7) by Michael Milton
Head First Design Patterns (ISBN 0-596-00712-4) by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First EJB (ISBN 0-596-00571-7) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First Excel (ISBN 0-596-80769-4) by Michael Milton
Head First 2D Geometry (ISBN 0-596-80833-X) by Lindsey Fallow and Dawn Griffiths
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML (ISBN 0-596-10197-X) by Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman
Head First HTML5 Programming (ISBN 1-4493-9054-4) by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Robson
Head First iPhone Development (ISBN 0-596-80354-0) by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First iPhone and iPad Development (ISBN 1-4493-8782-9) by Dan Pilone and Tracey Pilone
Head First Java (ISBN 0-596-00920-8) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First JavaScript (ISBN 0-596-52774-8) by Michael Morrison
Head First jQuery (ISBN 1-4493-9321-7) by Ryan Benedetti and Ronan Cranley
Head First Mobile Web (ISBN 1-4493-0266-1) by Lyza Danger Gardner, Jason Grigsby
Head First Networking (ISBN 0-596-52155-3) by Ryan Benedetti, Al Anderson
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (ISBN 0-596-00867-8) by Brett McLaughlin, Gary Pollice and David West
Head First PHP & MySQL (ISBN 978-0-596-00630-3) by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
Head First Physics (ISBN 0-596-10237-2) by Heather Lang
Head First PMP (ISBN 0-596-10234-8) by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman
Head First Programming (ISBN 0-596-80237-4) by Paul Barry and David Griffiths
Head First Python (ISBN 1-4493-8267-3) by Paul Barry
Head First Rails (ISBN 0-596-51577-4) by David Griffiths
Head First Servlets & JSP (ISBN 0-596-51668-1) by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
Head First Software Development (ISBN 0-596-52735-7) by Dan Pilone and Russ Miles
Head First SQL (ISBN 0-596-52684-9) by Lynn Beighley
Head First Statistics (ISBN 0-596-52758-6) by Dawn Griffiths
Head First Web Design (ISBN 0-596-52030-1) by Ethan Watrall and Jeff Siarto
Head First WordPress (ISBN 0-596-80628-0) by Jeff Siarto
O'Reilly established Head First Labs, where books of the series are presented and the main idea behind the series is explained. The Labs also hosts blogs by some of their authors and hosts some applets that complement their books.
The books in the series have received three nominations for Product Excellence Jolt Awards, winning in 2005 for Head First Design Patterns, and were recognized on Amazon.com's yearly top 10 list for computer books from 2003 to 2005.
