Computers Books

I have purchased every book written by Susan Kitchens. I need the information, I need the insights and I appreciate the amount of work she puts into every title. If you use Bryce - any version - you need her books.

Even if you've upgraded to Bryce 5, Real World Bryce 2 can be the Brycer's best friend. Many of the techniques are still applicable! In fact, some of the "problems" noted in the text with the windows version of Bryce 2 no longer apply, they've worked since Bryce 3D!

Susan is an excellent author and graphics artist. This woman is the Salvador Dali of the computer graphics world! Her books are indispensible!

If you've ever wanted to really understand Bryce and how it works, this is the book for you. It really helped me streamline the process of making cool worlds in Bryce. The color examples & awesome artwork are a nice bonus.

Every feature in covered in great detail, far beyond the scope of the original Bryce manual. The author presents advanced features, showing how to make undersea worlds, rivers, & waterfalls using Bryce & Photoshop.

She devotes over 100 pages to working with texture. Other chapters cover working with other software, rendering and realistic nature imagery. There is even a chapter on making alien world scenes.

The CD also has some great examples including rendering tests & tutorial Bryce files to play with. There are also 100's of spectacular images of different worlds created by over 80 different artists.

If you've ever wanted to really understand Bryce and how it works, this is the book for you. It really helped me streamline the process of making cool worlds in Bryce. The color examples & awesome artwork are a nice bonus. Every feature in covered in great detail, far beyond the scope of the original Bryce manual. The author presents advanced features, showing how to make undersea worlds, rivers, & waterfalls using Bryce & Photoshop. She then devotes over 100 pages to working with texture. Other chapters cover working with other software, rendering and realistic nature imagery. There is even a chapter on making alien world scenes. The CD also has some great examples including rendering tests & tutorial Bryce files to play with. There are also 100's of spectacular images of different worlds created by over 80 different artists.

We purchased this book out of desperation, as we had a project demanding instant "alien" backgrounds. As the program's documentation was so incomplete and erroneous as to be virtually worthless, we eagerly ordered Ms. Kitchens' book after reading rave reviews. And, it is almost everything expected. While Bryce can be "played" with to achieve spectacular results with no documentation at all, this book has allowed us to use the program in depth, which is required by our commercial graphics demands. Unfortunately, it is not perfect, and these flaws make me wish Ms. Kitchens would find a better publisher for her work. First of all, the promised CD for the Windows platform is not included, but must be ordered by means of an included postcard, with a promised "3-4 week delivery time". We feel this is deceptive, and only refrained from returning the book due to our pressing needs. Secondly, after getting through a somewhat fuzzy-headed and arrogant foreward, we found that the (numerous) excellent illustrations were poorly placed in reference to the text, resulting in constant page turning. For a technical manual, it is incumbent on the publisher to better coordinate the placement of text and illustrations. I'd say this publisher needs to show the same concern and dedication in their efforts as Susan Kitchens has shown in hers.

I couldn't disagree with that last review ( 2 stars) more. I've been on the Net for three years and still find the Web guide a useful reference. Kennedy has put a great deal of work into collating a pretty damn useful cross section of the Web. I can't commend him high enough. I've bought several copies as gifts for friends - who've all lavished it with praise.

Even someone with a passing knowledge of the Internet, like myself, knows a good deal of what is in this book. The first half starts off useful enough, but like most books on technology diverges into sections that are seemingly "no briainers" and sections that are so specific as to be less than useful. The second half is mostly just addresses of sites and reads like a TV Guide.

Two stars, one for each of the pieces it was in when I finished reading it. Money ill spent.

I have been exposed to the Internet since 1991 when only universities or companies like Microsoft had access to it. So, I was used to surfing the Internet using FTP, Telnet, etc. When the World Wide Web came into existence in the mid-nineties, it grew faster than anything any of us could ever imagine (as we all know by now). I ran across one of the first editions of the Rough Guides about the Internet in 1997. Till then, inspite of being very familiar with the technology behind the Internet, I felt very uncomfortable about my knowledge of what the Web was all about. This Rough Guide was the reference I started using to change my ignorance about the Web. I bought every edition since then and have benefited tremendously.

So, why is this book so great? What does it offer? Well, considering that it is almost impossible for anyone to learn everything about the Internet, most people don't even bother to learn the basics. Not surprising, since you have to spend hundreds of hours reading too many books to even get a glimmer of understanding about this untamed beast called the Internet. This book addresses all the main topics in approximately 500 pages, and provides you the critical information that you need to know about the Internet in Plain English! If you like trivia, there is also quite a bit of it in this book on the history of the Internet. This book acts as a pocket reference, complete reference, listing of popular sites, dictionary and more - all for under [$$]

Being raised on British books, I thoroughly enjoy the systematic treatment of any subject that British authors tackle. This book is no exception - it is very thorough, complete and the facts are extremely accurate. Unfortunately, British books don't do that well in America (probably due to marketing disadvantages). But if you get a chance, check this book out and I am sure that you will be a fan of British books forever.

I have always bought several copies of each edition of this book that came out and gave them out as gifts to close friends and family that were new to the Internet. Every one of them has thoroughly enjoyed the new found knowledge gained through this book. I hope you have fun discovering more about the Internet by reading this book on a train ride or plane trip somewhere. Good luck!

This book is small, yet filled with more information than 5 of the Dummy books and i feel smart using it not like the dummie books. You will find ways to deal with problems on the Internet as well as a dictionary of site to run too. Great gift for the Computer user.

Excellent book! Love it! Highly recommend to all! One of the best internet guide books I ever got! Thanks rough guide :)

I didn't know any significant HTML prior to using this book. This book is a great starting point and will give anyone enough background to put up a pretty good page. I feel like I have gotten a good grasp of HTML from this book and now feel like I should branch out into Javascript to develop my pages further.

Oliver & Morrison offered good advice on what to do and what not to do when designing a webpage, and they also explained why they make those suggestions, which certainly assists in making later judgement calls on topics they don't directly address.

I would also recommend O'Reilly's HTML/XHTML book, which has come in handy in clarifying a few points. However, this book is sufficient for anyone looking to put up realatively simple pages and is easier as an introduction (and more motivating) than O'Reilly's book. That is, buy this book first and buy O'Reilly's book if you have a desire to learn more about HTML.

Having been out of web Development for a couple years, I needed confidence that my basic understanding was up to speed. This book HTML and XHTML in 24 hours, brought me up to date rather quickly. It provided the foundation that I needed both to build some basic web application prototypes, and to be able to begin reading more specialized books on Web Development. Specifically books on CSS.

This text will not make you a wizened internet programming guru... but it doesn't pretend to do so. What it does promise, and deliver, is a solid grounding in the creation of basic web pages. The book starts with the absolute basics; nothing is assumed. Finding someone to host your web site is covered, as is the creation of files using the Windows Notepad text editor and the uploading of files onto a web hosting computer. And, of course, there's a tremendous amount of detail in creating web pages.

It's important to note that there are two approaches to creating web pages today: you can create them by hand, using XHTML code written with a simple text editor like notepad; or you can use a web page authoring package, such as DreamWeaver or FrontPage. Using a program like DreamWeaver (most agree its the #1 program of its type) will allow you to create web pages much more quickly than by hand coding them; and unless you have an innate skill as a design artist, they will likely look better than something you hand code.

On the other hand, you'll never have a clue about how the code actually works, if you don't learn XHTML; and so you'll never be able to modify it. You'll be stuck with whatever the web authoring package can do for you. And there's also the cost factor: web authoring packages cost several hundreds of dollars, but notepad is free; it's part of the Microsoft Windows operating system. (Macs have a similar built in text editor.)

Most internet pros can do both; they regularly use DreamWeaver as a production tool, but know XHTML so that they can quickly modify what the program generates when the need arises. On the other hand, amateurs building simple web pages probably would never be able to justify the cost of a full blown web authoring package, so learning XHTML makes perfect sense.

Either way, learning XHTML is an appropriate way to start your web page building education; and this book is the perfect way to do so. Having read several books on the subject - including some thousand+ page hardcover whoppers - I can confidently state that this book does a spectacular job of teaching you exactly what you need to know. It gets right to the point, and quickly and simply teaches the core material. All the fluff is gone; everything in this book is solid. There's thorough coverage of graphics, animated graphics, even some javascript. There's a lot of reference to readily available tools on the net, and some indication of how they might be used. I was particularly impressed with the clarity of the instruction; the book does a spectacular job of identifying and teaching exactly what needs to be taught, while deftly avoiding extraneous discussion. Most universities don't provide a quality of instruction as crisp and as easily followed as that contained within this book.

So what's missing? Not much. There's no coverage of Flash to speak of, or CGI scripting. I didn't see any mention of secure HTML, so you'll need more than this book in order to start processing credit cards, or conducting commerce. And a few of the web resource links that the author provides are dead links, and haven't worked for years; they should have been caught during the revision process.

But these are mere quibbles; make no mistake, this book gives you an awful lot. If your desire is a really good book that starts right at the very beginning, and gives you enough knowledge to build really good looking web pages from scratch... then this is your book. If you want to set up a simple web page for yourself - or an informational web page designed to promote your home business - this is a great text. And if you plan on persuing a career as a web page developer, but have no previous knowledge of web design or HTML... then this is a great book to start with.

The book is now in its 6th edition, and that says a lot; publishers won't revise a book with poor sales. For a computer book to be revised and released 6 times is a dramatic testament to its popularity, and inherent quality. I can only think of one other book on my bookshelf - Muellers' Upgrading and Repairing PCs - that has shown such a continuing popularity level.

When you invest in this book, you get a lot of value. When you've learned and applied everything in this book, you'll be able to create extremely good looking and well written informational web pages from scratch, without having to rely on a web authoring package; and you'll be completely prepared to learn the intricacies of Java, Flash, and CGI scripting, if you so choose. However, probably 90% or more of the people who read this book, will never need to move beyond it.

For most web pages, this book is all you'll ever need.

I have been using a canned program to manage my company's web site, but I wasn't always able to do fine tune the pages the way I wished. So I decided to teach myself HTML. Working through this book, I was able to learn step by step how to design pages and manipulate the images and text. The book is very clear and concise and the exercises the author gives at the end of every chapter are extremely useful.

Best computer related book that I have ever read. I was somewhat familiar with HTML concepts, but never created my own web page. The lessons are organized well and are so easy to follow! They even go over applets, Active X, and JavaScript. Awesome, awesome book.

this is far the best com book I have read. I am happy to be in possession of one

It's a great book to possess, When it comes to Component programming. After Don Box "Essiential COM", this is by far the best COM+ book I have read. It will give you good understanding about not just writing but design and implementing COM+ Components. Examples are great and right to the point.

I finished this book over a year ago, and never got around to writing a review. Probably won't help too many with most of the new development moving to .NET, but here goes. Overall, it was solid but I thought it could have done two things better. I thought the coverage on MSMQ could have been stronger and the project at the end did not get tied together as well as it should have. I like the approach of a lot of the Wrox books that really get into detail WHY they're doing something in their projects they use to tie their ideas together. I felt as thought the author really almost rushed this section of the book, and, in doing so, missed the opportunity to really drive home his points. Hopefully he reads these and will take a page out of the Wrox books in really getting down to explaining his reasoning and what is going on when he's tying his ideas together with a project in his next book. I thought he did an outstanding job up to that point though.

Scot Hillier's book COM+ VB is destined to be considered a classic among the great big programming books. I wouldn't jerk you around. In fact I can honestly say I love to read Scot's work. Tony Davidson once said "A Smith can be a common man, but does that mean I see a Smith and think: "There before
heaven go I"? There is absolutely no need to ponder. In fact to ponder this is to get confused. I read and laid down the book again. Soon I'll read more.

Joanne Brady

I started my COM+ learning experience with Peishu Li's "Visual Basic and COM+ Programming by Example" and then used this book to get a more advanced look at COM+. This was NOT money wasted. I highly recommend both books to users wanting the learn about COM+ and n-tier. This book is very well written. Developers with a background in MTS may want to skip the "by Example" book but you definitely want to read this book. Scot Hillier understands COM+ (and MTS for that matter) and his style of writing is pleasant to read.

I'm developing FileMaker applications since 1988. No other book paid for itself in a shorter period of time. I advice everybody who is serious with FileMaker to buy this collection of technique files you find in the accompaigning CD. The first FileMaker book I didn't feel cheated.

A MUST for any and all Filemaker developer. Much more than a simple 'how to' book. Gets to the heart of how to create solutions with FileMaker Pro.

When I first started doing database development back in 1995, I searched long and hard for a good book that'd teach me all about many of the "hard to get your head around" features of FileMaker Pro such as advanced scripting, understanding calculation formulas, dealing with related data and portals, and how to build killer user interfaces. At the time, there were no good books (to my knowledge). Later, after I'd finished my first subcontracting gig as a FileMaker developer and started my own company, I stumbled across Scriptology. I don't even remember where I found it (it was some unlikely place like a mall bookstore or something.)

I have to say that the book helped a great deal in my efforts to become a professional Filemaker developer, an advanced scripter, and a careful database planner/architect. I had already learned many of the techniques illuminated in the book by the by...from colleagues or by surfing the Web, but never before had all the greatest tips and techniques been collected in one place. Enter Scriptology.

One point, though. While I'm sure John and Matt are putting together a new edition as we speak, the book is dated in some respects (it doesn't cover FileMaker 5's new features). It also doesn't cover some very advanced FileMaker topics such as ODBC connectivity, Web development, or the use of plugins. For these reasons, the book seems pricy, but it'll still add a great deal to any developer's FileMaker database-building arsenal.

After using a customized filemaker pro solution for two years at work, which the company had outgrown, I decided to start from scratch and create my own. I have purchased several filemaker books over the past few months and this is the only one which supplemented the filemaker pro manual. It says it covers Filemaker Pro 3.0 and 4.0 but everything applies to Filemaker Pro 5.0 also.

Absolutely every technique I was trying to do was described in detail here. This book explains some of the workaround techniques that are not instantly built in to Filemaker but are possible with a little work. The supplemental CD has each technique as a seperate database file making it easy to analyze and adapt to your own database.

Filemaker Pro is much easier to use than Access and superior when creating both an interface and printed reports, especially graphic intensive reports such as catalogs.

Read the Filemaker Pro manual, then buy this book. The high price of the book is completely covered in the fact that it is so comprehensive and covers advanced techniques in such easy to understand language.

I got a lot of ideas for my own databases from reading this book and was highly impressed by such detailed content.

If you are deciding between Visual Quickstart's Filemaker Pro (it only covers what is covered in the Filemaker manual), Filemaker Pro Bible (hardly comprehensive enough to be called a bible), Automating Filemaker Pro (more theory and description than how to automate it), and Scriptology, ONLY buy Scriptology. It will save you a lot of time and money (unless you are stupid like me and buy all the other books first).

This is the perfect book to have on hand once you get past the stage of learning how to create layouts and relationships. All the other books seem to brush over scripting quickly or make the assumption that the reader somehow instinctively knows what a vested If statement, loop, or set field is, when each might be used in a script and why. For weeks I understood none of this. After an evening with this book it's finally starting to all come together. This book explains everything very clearly and intelligently, is extremely well organized and I believe perhaps the best computer book I've ever purchased. I, too, was afraid I might regret paying ..., but I have no regrets at all (and I certainly have no affiliation with the author). Two thumbs way up!

I found this book to be excellent. It clearly defines areas to be researched, how to do that research, where to find the resources and how to make sure the package will meet the needs of the users. It is well written, easily understood by all levels of users and extremely, extremely helpful. If only users of open source software went through these steps, open source would be far more successful than it already is.

Bernard Golden's book offers one of the most comprehensive analytical tools for evaluating open source software projects, his Open Source Maturity Model (which is also featured on his website, www.navicasoft.com.) The book starts with a general overview of open source software, open source business models, and key legal issues, and then discusses the OSMM in depth. It also offers a very detailed and fair evaluation of a major open source project, JBoss.

Whether you are a developer creating an open source project, a user evaluating an open source project, or an investor doing due diligence, this book is a very valuable resource.

This book is perhaps the best resource I've run across on the subject of evaluating open source.

In this book, Golden explains the methodology of applying his Open Source Maturity Model (OSMM). OSMM is a framework for evaluating the maturity of an open source project and its usefulness, specific to an organizations software requirements. The book provides excellent insight into the organization and culture of open source projects and provides a wealth of recommendations for investigating and evaluation open source software.

I was really blown away by the accessibility and accuracy of Golden's writing. Having been involved in open source for about 6 years in one context or another, I found his analysis of open source software to be spot-on. If you are looking for a simple, guided, and clear methodology for evaluating the usefulness and maturity of a specific open source project, you should read this book. It's a goldmine.

Any IT Manager with their eye on the radar knows that open source software is rapidly maturing into a viable alternative to expensive commercial software packages. However, there are still some barriers to entry into the OSS world, especially for IT Managers within large, traditional, non-IT companies.

The OSMM evaluation method described in this book is a perfect fit for an IT Manager trying to find a way to justify their use of open source software inside the software stack of one of those traditional, non-IT companies.

The real-world examples provided by Bernard throughout the book are very interesting and can be used as additional "weight" to your arguments if you are trying to convince your boss that your use of OSS is no longer the pioneering adventure that it once was.

This book not only provides OSMM evaluation method, but also a well-written overview of the current status of OSS in the first three chapters.

I was not able to find blank worksheet templates on www.navicasoft.com although the book indicates that these are located somewhere on the website. I also could not find a way to upload an assessment to share with the OS community. This is a something that should be considered as it would really be a tactical advantage for IT Manager's efforts if there was a section of Navica's website dedicated to sharing OSMM assessments of the different OS packages. I can imagine that a user community would quickly spring up in response to such an portal.

Truly an excellent book!

Have you been wondering how to extend the use of open source software in your organization, but would like to know how to find the right software and do pro-quality evaluations of alternatives effectively? This excellent book by Bernard Golden will show you what's different about open source in detail, how you might make those differences work in your organization, and how to use a simple, effective model that summarizes the necessary elements to compare different apps that might fit into your environment. Using Golden's methods will educate your choices, reduce your risks, and help you to succeed with open source.

This is a "How-To" book for IT managers, but it's also very suitable for beginners. The concepts don't require technical knowledge, and the explanations are clear and concise.

Part I is an overview of everything you wanted to know about open source. It dispells myths, and helps you to understand why open source works at all. Best of all, each chapter has an executive summary, and most paragraphs have a margin note that summarizes the paragraph's concept. This really makes the book easy to read or review. You can skim down the page reading the concept notes until you come to the areas where you want more in-depth knowledge. The overview is excellent.

Part II (which also includes the great paragraph notes) introduces Golden's Open Source Maturity Model, the framework for applying what you learned, or knew, from Part I, and more that you will learn later in Part II. The model is a template that grids the elements for software assessment and weighting factors. When you do the math you get the product maturity score, maturity being how full-featured and ready for production use the product is. Of course, your weighting factors will affect the score to make it useful in light of your organization. Formally scoring a number of products will pinpoint the products you should and should not be considering. This part is pretty simple.

The devil, of course, is in the details. Golden discusses different types of organizations, how they should set up their reviews, weightings and interpret scores. Then he applies this process to a real-world example using JBOSS, a significant open source product. Each element is fully explored in its own chapter, and this is where the rubber meets the road. Golden compares how commercial products provide the elements, then he discusses how open source provides the elements, many times by using different mechanisms. He gives great guidance on how to find and use these resources when they differ from the single-point solution of commercial software. If differences between open source and commercial software implementation weren't clear to you before, they will be after these chapters, and you'll begin to know how to get the most out of them, too. Open source may not be the right answer for your environment, but now you'll know exactly why, and what has to change before it is.

This is a well-written and thorough book, good for initiates and decision makers, made easy to use by the paragraph notes. If open source is on your radar, I highly recommend it.

Well thought-out, clear and thorough book. I have several networks books, but this is by far the best I've ever used, even surpassing "Computer Networks: a systems approach". Another advantage of this book is that it has a website with quizzes and results to help reinforce the information displayed in it. A must have for anyone learning about networks.

I had to use this book for a graduate course. It has been very suitable for this purpose. The level of details is good, but not to the point of a protocol standard. If you need to master the concepts and do not want to refer to very superficial practical references or detailed standards this book is right in the middle. Lecturers will find it very appropriate and students will easly grasp the concepts. One can still use some parts of the book as a reference. If the required information is not there some of the references to RFCs and standards will guide the reader to more information elsewhere.

Just recently, I began writing network drivers for my custom Operating System and found myself a little in-the-dark about the proper format for a TCP/IP packet. This book proved to be a great read, and also an extremely useful reference later on.
Two thumbs up.

This may be the best textbook I have ever used. The text is concise and to the point with no extra "fluff". The illustrations are fantastic. The author has spent a tremendous amount of time on these... they take you directly to the meaning of the text, and give a strong visual and intuitive foundation to what has been written. Example problems with answers are numerous, and seem to be placed at exactly the points where you need to stop and work through concepts with pencil and paper. I really can't say enough about this text, I've read it cover to cover. It imparts an amazing amount of technical information without being dry... again, I think it's the illustrations that are so helpful, and it's nice that the author's style is direct and not wordy. I don't think you can buy a better TCP/IP book, this one's worth twice the price.

As a beginner, this book can deliver a full and clear picture about details of TCP/IP including each protocol alogorithm, characteristics and it's usage. One can easily understand the TCP/IP basic architecture even without any experience after reading.

I have read more than half of the book. I like the material the book covers and the way of teaching by exemples.
Most other books focus on the features of the Unix system.

However I have minor questions:
1. There are typographical errors in exemple code.
2. I do not like function tty_mode(int how) in chapter 6.
it seems trivial and unnecessry and the static variable inside
the function seems questionable style.
I wonder why these obvious things happened in such a good book.

It goes right to the point and it's easy too understand. One of the very few books out there that really shows what system programming is all about. Great samples too.

This book is beautifully written. I just got it today and read the first chapter. I bought it for a class I am taking in Unix Systems Programming. I was relieved when Molay's book arrived in the mail today. I was relieved that the book exceeded my expectations. If you can't afford Harvard, don't worry--the course is all here.

I bought this book for a college course on Linux -- and I can tell you this... unlike other books on Linux, this one is a great read and very informative. I bought mine using a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it was almost free for me.

Unix has had the luxury of being one of the most documented operating systems in history. Many books have been dedicated to documenting the internals of Unix and Unix-like systems and some have risen to the ranks of classic texts regarded by all as necessary to understanding the inner workings of Unix. Understanding Unix®/Linux Programming would be in excellent company with these books. The book contains a copious amount of code and clear, diagramed explanations describing the processes transpiring in the machine.

Understanding Unix®/Linux Programming is designed to be used in an operating systems course with programmers fluent in C. Fortunately, though, the book can be used outside of the classroom if the reader does not mind an occasional open-ended questions with no included answers. The book may seem light on pages (530 including index), but the author should get an award for jamming so much useful explanation and helpful (and complete) code. The format of each chapter is familiar to most textbooks, with an introduction to the task at hand, explanations and examples, a summary, a list of explorations to further understand the topics presented, and a set of programming exercises. The exercises are creative and directly relate to the presented code. They're also (dare I say it?) fun. I'm not saying they'll replace crossword puzzles, but they do present creative or obvious challenges to the reader. (Like handling when a user types 'exit' from a shell, or blinking the text in an ncurses application).

The book includes topics on file I/O, device I/O, timers, process management, stream and datagram sockets, POSIX threads, file systems, the terminal driver, signals pipes, network programming and semaphores. A typical chapter will introduce an operating system concept (file systems and directories, for instance) and will briefly describe the current Unix command for working with that concept (pwd for determining the present working directory, or ls for listing the contents of a directory, and so forth). The author then proceeds to give a detailed description of what the operating system does to run the command. In the chapter on processes and programs, the author describes what processes are and how to use the ps command. Next the author describes how to fork child processes, and wait for them. This leads to the 'prompting shell', which is a simple, yet functional shell environment. Now some books would leave this exercise after creating a semi-functional shell, but the author presses on and in the next chapter creates 'small-shell' which is an interactive shell with a minimal scripting langauge and variable support. All of this in the span of 71 pages, with plenty of examples, full code listings, diagrams, and problem sets.

Understanding Unix®/Linux Programming takes advantage of the inquisitive nature of coders by presenting commands and command squences we all take for granted, and turning them into "how do they work" learning experiences. Anyone who has ever stopped to think why certain things work the way they do in Unix (or work at all) will find this book immensely helpful in sating that curiousity. Students who are assigned this textbook for a class should thank their teacher for choosing a genuinely useful text from which to read. I can't help but be jealous of students who will use this book for their classes. That jealousy is short-lived though, as anyone who wants an excellent resource for learning Unix programming will benefit from picking up this book. Kudos to the author for crafting not only an exceptionally easy to read and thourough book, but for taking the complex machinations of Unix and making them simple and accessible for all coders.

I also used this book to prepare for the HP-UX CSA exam. The book is broken down into 3 parts.

1)UNIX Section
This section covers UNIX/LINUX in general and shows some differences between some of the flavors of UNIX
2)Programming Section
This section introduces you to the various programming language you will see on UNIX/LINUX Platforms. Programming languages such as C/C++, Java, Perl were shown
3)UNIX and Windows Interoperability Section
This section shows how to work and share files with both operating systems.
Overall the book is good and very useful for someone coming from windows background and going to UNIX world. I recommend this book.

Let me pay my respects to this beautiful beautiful book. There are a lot of pages, but the print is big and 90% of it is examples.

The book has tremendous scope - make this your first Unix book,
it is all you really need.

I will certainly target this author, when I move onto sys admin.

This book deserves five stars for unix users. For administrators it is neccesary to read more. Great book.

Perfect for pointing my junior SA's in the right direction! The shell chapters let them get more detail on the user environment, the administration and performance sections provide them a taste of real SA work, and the introductory chapters on programming give them a solid foothold on the way to deep unix.

I'm particularly happy with the included man pages. Too many books just give a short blurb on a command; reading the man page can open greater opportunities.

I recommend this book for any low-mid level unix admin. If you're a supervisor or manager, get one for all your SA's!

I'm surprised how much content was put in this book. They did an excellent job on covering a wide array of topics: Unix commands, XWindow System, File/Dir System, tools, Shell Programming, KornShell, C, and Bash environment, Samba, and Internet Programming. It also dedicates some time with C++, Perl, and Java, which made me happy. A plus for man documantion listings.

My only grudge is the index, which could've been bigger and more detailed when searching specific topics on the fly.

I found this book to rehash information found in many other sources. It covers a wide range of topics, but none in sufficient detail. A good overview of the topics; for detailed information look elsewhere.

I have a nice little library of books that would put a small library to shame, but I find myself connected to a few much like the kid with his favorite teddy bear. Well, this book is like that teddy bear. I carry it 2 miles each day to and from work. Any good book is invaluable to a job/certification. This is one of them!

I read the entire book over the last few weeks and found that is was very helpful in giving me a better understanding of networking. I learned a lot about the basics and a ton about the advanced aspects of NT networking. I found out about how to use key NT tools and the book was a great resource.

I don't usually take the time to come back and comment on a book unless it's very bad. In this case the book is way better than I've come to expect from most NT books. There were so many extra topics in the book that I don't think I've seen elsewhere. Important registry setting are listed and explained but not ALL of them (with no explaination) just what is important. I liked the IP Management section and DNS overview. The capacity planning section that somebody else here mentioned was excellent and the tuning and troubleshooting chapter had a great section on problem resolution. It covers a very wide range of topics relating to NT and networking and does it very well.

-Tom

This book, along with Tony Northrup's Windows NT Plumbing, will put you a step above your other NT peers. Both of these books go into the nitty gritty details of how NT REALLY works in the real world and how best to deploy and configure it.

Both are excellent primers on networking and TCP/IP as well as NT specifics. Highly recommended.