Programming Books

As an author of technical books I am especially critical of the delivery of technical information - especially when covering topics that can be heavily theoretical. Iljitsch van Beljnum's book on IPv6 provides an excellent balance between theory and practice. It introduces the IPv6 protocol and how to run it. It provides real-life examples of the protocol in action and how it can be used with a variety of applications. It particularly addresses the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, myths about IPv6, routing and DNS. It also importantly covers changes in IP protocol security as a result of the introduction of IPv6.

If you're looking at moving to IPv6 or if you are simply interested in how it is run, routes, and interacts with operating systems and applications then I strongly recommend this book.

When I read and reviewed O'Reilly's IPv6 Network Administration by Niall Richard Murphy and David Malone, I called their book "a must-have book for all network administrators." Upon seeing Apress' Running IPv6 by Iljitsch van Beijnum, I wondered if I would waste my time reading and reviewing another book on IPv6. Now I'm glad I digested Running IPv6 -- it's my first must-read book of 2006. The books are complementary, so I recommend them both.

Three years ago I read and reviewed van Beijnum's book on BGP, which I liked while thinking it was somewhat terse. In Running IPv6, van Beijnum strikes the proper balance between explanatory language and technical details. Every chapter in the new book taught me something useful. In Ch 1 I liked comparisons involving IPv4, IPv6, IPX, DECnet, AppleTalk, and OSI CLNP. In Ch 2 I enjoyed sections on using 48 bit MAC addresses in IPv6 addresses. Ch 3 featured tips on the "on-link" assumption. As would be expected in a book by a BGP expert, Ch 4 provided lots of guidance on routing IPv6. Ch 5 included history on the evolution of DNS for IPv6, with RFCs 1886 and 2874 competing for primacy.

Ch 6 covered issues that applications might encounter when handling IPv6. Ch 7 introduced the "HD ratio," which estimates the point at which the effort required to manage increasingly "used-up" address space suggests that expanding it would be more efficient. Ch 8 mentioned the headaches caused by automatically generated, multiple MAC addresses for IPv6 multicast. Ch 9 scared me with use of the multicast ping for host discovery. Ch 10 was the first time I saw an effort to show how to use Tcpdump with IPv6.

I had no real issues with Running IPv6. I found a few production errors and typos that can be fixed in later printings. All are obvious, except the use of the word "maximum" in the first sentence of the last paragraph on p. 153. (I think that should be "minimum.")

Like IPv6 Network Administration, I liked van Beijnum's attention to command syntax for multiple OS' -- especially FreeBSD. He even covered Cisco and Juniper in the same book. Since I suggest reading the O'Reilly and Apress titles, I recommend reading the former first and the latter second. Van Beijnum's book is best read by those with a little more exposure to IPv6, but it can certainly stand alone if need be.

If you plan to ever have anything to do with IPv6, you must buy van Beijnum's latest book. Bravo.

'Running IPv6' by Iljitsch van Beijnum is an essential reference for any IT people who are looking to:

1. Upgrade from IPv4
2. Learn more about the IPv6 standard
3. Want to configure and set up IPv6

This book covers Windows, Mac, Free BSD, Linux, Cisco routers, DNS and bind... the whole shebang

Not written for a novice, this book assumes that you have knowledge of IP-related material and are not reading this book simply for "vacation reading". In a niche market this book scales its way to the top of the moutain.

Great resource!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I've have been working on an IPv6 lab and Running IPv6 is a great reference for setting up OS and router configurations. Excellent material in a short compact format with no bull or filler. I have to say this is the best IPv6 book I have read so far. It is also the most up to date of the books considering all the RFC changes that happen for IPv6.
If you are looking for something that is clear and to the point about how to USE IPv6 then this is it. There are plenty of other books out there that go into the theory and design which might be better suited for studying (Joseph Davies - Understanding IPv6 or Regis Desmeules - Implementing Cisco IPv6 Networks) but if you want to get an IPv6 network running NOW then Iljitsch van Beijnum book is for you. Kudos for writing a great practical IPv6 book.
- Ed Horley

IPv6 has been brooded over for a decade by various Internet groups. This book shows its present incarnation. It has grown very sophisticated; well beyond a simple vast expansion of the address space from 32 bits to 128 bits. So the text talks about the various tunnelling and routing options that become possible under it, that are unavailable under IPv4.

Yet to me the most interesting section of the book is the chapter on transitioning from IPv4 [the current Internet] to IPv6. Every other technical issue about IPv6 pales in comparison to this quandry. The author gives the best value in the book in this chapter. He shows firstly that IPv4 will inevitably exhaust its space. Though he prudently refrains from speculating when that might be. The transition must also be incremental. No one expects a swift global change to be realistic.

Then he explains that the modes of transition come down to analysing only 4 communication models for most common web usage. Namely email, Web browsing and two types of peer-to-peer usage. Examples of the latter are VoIP and BitTorrent.

From the models, we see the necessity for using a proxy or address translation to handle the transition. An especially clear analysis.

I am currently working on a compiler that outputs SVG. 'Teach yourself SVG in 24 Hours' has enabled be to gain a good understanding of how to use some of the nice, handy features of SVG without having to spend ages geeking around on the internet looking for online tutorials!

It was a pleasent suprise to open a computing book that wasn't in too much jargon - quite a handy thing when its your first exposure to a new language. This book it written for everyone! (unless you have no interest in computers or the internet etc..)

Teach Yourself SVG in 24 Hours, I believe, is one of the best computer books I've read. I am a computer savvy with 5 years experiences in programming and network administration as well as database management. Recently I am working on a project involving SVG.

This book walked you through a series of detailed tutorials to build a dynamic weather forecast web page using SVG step by step. In each chapter, a new topic is covered in an easy-to-understand and informative manner, which makes the learning curve pretty flat. As the title suggests, this book is an introductory primer to a new technique so it is not intented to delve too deep into a specific topic. However, a good many hyperlinks to W3C's online SVG specification appear here and there for your reference if you would like to make your hands dirtier...In a nutshelll, if you would like to teach yourself SVG from the beginning, it is The book, though it may, by a large chance, take you more than 24 hours to go through it.

I am a graphic artist using Adobe Illustrator and I wanted to learn more about SVG. I asked the Adobe people about this file format that is included with the newest versions of Illustrator but was unable to find out much. Finally I found this great book.

This book begins with an overview and describes the justification and process of development of SVG. In chapter 2 it jumps right in and teaches the nuts and bolts of creating images with SVG. As I am not a coder or programmer, I was amazed at the simplicity. Once a few basics had been explained I was off and running. Anyone with even the most basic computer and a simple text editor can create sophisticated graphics.

Towards the end of the book is a section on using Adobe Illustrator and in the back there is a reference section for oddball color conversion. The book also comes with the Adobe Web Collection CD that includes the viewer and tryout versions of Illustrator and Photoshop.

I'm really excited by the potential of this technology and can recommend this book to anyone who wants to develop some expertise in a hurry.

Good Luck...Tom Burns

Web developers and designers alike should have a full acquaintance with this exciting new technology. There aren't many resources yet available, and this book will prove to be a trailblazer.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an XML implementation utilizing a markup language similar to HTML but created specifically to render and control graphics. It is a robust mix of technologies including the DOM, CSS, Xlink, XSLT and JavaScript, and using the Adobe® SVG Viewer (a free plug-in), it supports static and dynamic graphics and WAV or MP3 audio.

Web developers should learn SVG because it is open-source and built in a simple text editor. It gives complete control of each graphic element. Web designers should use SVG because it is powerful -- graphics packages such as Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Jasc Web Draw and others support SVG output. SVG also enables flash-like animation. In fact, SVG is THE open-source solution to web animation. No longer do you need expensive proprietary software to get the job done.

Anyway, this book is what you need. (That's how I learned all this.) Author Micah Laaker, while presenting the material in a comprehensive, straightforward and exciting manner, will leave an excellent reference guide on your book shelf. Buy it, read it and keep it handy.

I'm writing reviews of books i read years ago and i fondly remember the late nights listening to music and reading this book. It was my first real programming book and I learned a lot of basic concepts from it that i still use even though now I use C++ and wxWidgets/SDL. It also taught me the that I didn't want to be locked in to just writing for one platform ;-)

I don't know how to program, and I want to know if this book will help me how to program. I have visual basic 5. if anyone can help me, if this book will teach me how to program from the beginning

Look, if you happen to come across this book don't let the version of Visual Basic (5) fool you. This book actually kept me from giving up on programming altogether. I first picked up another Sams Teach Yourself Vb in 21 days and wanted to throw it away, someone recommended this one and I truly am thankful to the Gurewich brothers for writing it. Do yourself a favor and begin your journey in Visual Basic with this book.

This is an excellent starting place. The Teach Yourself series actually does what it claims (the Teach Yourself Visual Basic for Applications book is also a great companion to this one).

Really gets you into the application. If you are like me, though you will get excited and get on tangents within a couple of chapters. I have used this book now for about 1 year (got through everything in about 2 weeks) and still find uses for examples.

I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROGRAMMING EXPERIANCE BEFORE THIS BOOK AND WITHIN 2-3 DAYS I COULD WRIGHT MY OWN SMALL PROGRAMMS, THE WAY ITS SET UP YOU CANT GET LOST ITS SO STRAIGHT FORWARD NON OF THIS MUMBO JUMBO THAT YOU NEED A DEGREE JUST TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THERE SAYING NO I RECOMEND THIS BOOK TO ANY ONE WHO WANTS TO LEARN VISUAL BASIC AND BELIEVE ME IT IS POSSIBLE TO LEARN A LOT IN 21 DAYS, I HAVE BEEN LEARNING VISUAL BASIC FOR A YEAR NOW AND I STILL GO BACK TO PICK UP THINGS.

Very good book for learning. You can follow many examples with a running Scheme interpreter; I recommend it as a must.

Good book. To the point. Doesn't waste time with fluffy words. Excellent. I learned Scheme in a few days from this book. Scheme is like C on steroids. I like C, I hate C++ and Java. Calculus is entirely about functions, not objects. And I don't see people saying oh, Calculus is weak because it isn't object oriented. BLECH. Teach me to fish, don't give me one.

I purchased this book specifically with a view to learning the Scheme language. The text is easy to read, is pithy and to the point, and generally makes concepts clear and easy to understand. There are however, in my opinion, some sections where the author forgets that concepts are new to the reader and the examples that are used tend to obfuscate the point being made rather than elucidating it.

I have never considered myself stupid, but after my 5th reading of the introduction to continuations I was beginning to worry. A quick reading of another text on the subject cleared up my concerns almost immediately which suggests to me that the explanations are not as clear as they could be. There are some other areas of the book where this sort of assumption makes grasping a new concept more difficult than it should be.

Nonetheless, I still consider this a good introduction to the Scheme language and would gladly recommend it to the aspirant Schemer.

I'm a fan of a lot of the popular Scheme or Scheme related books (SICP, The Little Schemer, The Seasoned Schemer). While in some sense this book takes a more pragmatic approach than the aforementioned books, it is no less valuable. I found this book helpful as a teaching aid while learning Scheme, and as a reference for my continued use of the language.

Advanced topics, such as continuations and the syntax-rules and syntax-case macro systems, get good treatment from this book.

Highly recommended.

As I said in a past review to the second edition, this book is wonderful. This book has convinced me to migrate from Common Lisp to Scheme. This is a serious book for the one that really wants to learn about Scheme and require careful study and a strong motivation. Please note: if you are really interested to learn Scheme, then this book is for you; if you are not really interested and/or you like to joke, this book is absolutely not for you. The book is accurate, complete, well written and cover all you need about the modern Scheme. I use Scheme for personal study about bioinformatics. Thanks to the Autor.

The book provides an excellent introduction to logic and then shows how by using the language of logic and mathematics to specify pre-conditions and post-conditions one can develop provably correct programs from these pre-conditions and post-conditions.

I have used the methods in this book to develop advanced algorithms in Computer Graphics which could not have been developed in any other way.

The book is both a tutorial and reference. It is clearly written and organized.

When I first read this book, it was as though a bolt of lightning had struck me. Applying its methods, I became a much better programmer. I went from someone who struggled to get the code right to someone who always got the code right. For the first time I understood what programming was all about. I read the book on vacation while my wife and I were staying at my father's home in Sag Harbor New York and it was one of the most incredible intellectual adventures of my life. I'll never forget the smell of the sea and the sand and the logic going off like lightning flashes inside my brain.

This book makes my top-ten list of best computing books of the decade of the eighties. It certainly changed my outlook on how to write programs. The incorporation of logic into the code to mathematically prove that it works correctly was an ideal in the eighties and to some extent it remains an ideal. Nevertheless, that is not a reflection of the value of program correctness, but a consequence of the slow changes that sometimes take place in computing. Programmers may change their languages easily, but often not their styles.
At the time this book came out, I was in the process of designing and adding a course in computation theory with an emphasis on program correctness at Mount Mercy College. Before I encountered this book, I was having a difficult time pressing my case. However, after this book came out and I could use some of the comments regarding the significance of its' content, the course was easily approved. I also used the book in the class and the student comments were overwhelmingly positive. Ten years later, the book is still used in the class, something that is rare in computing.
The quality of the writing and explanations of the examples in the book are outstanding. Most of the students had no experience in formal logic, and yet they had little difficulty understanding and applying the concepts. The examples of proving the code correct were well chosen and I rarely heard any of the traditional complaints from math students regarding their frustrations over having to work through proofs.
The quality of programs would be dramatically increased if the principles of program correctness in this book were widely adopted. I continue to push for it every chance I get, and this review is one part of that push.

If you want to make a good programmer,you should study it. Many programmers just like programming , but they ignore how to verify their program is whether good enough or not.

The book deals with the way of development of programs using mathematical principles. This line of observation ( mentioned in the preface) " One can not learn to write large programs effectively until one has learned to write small ones effectively" captures the motivation of the book. There are three parts; part I introduces predicate logic; it includes natural deduction system; Part II builds the mathematical treatment of the programming constructs like assignment, alternative, iterative command and procedure call. Part III shows how programs are developed and proved correct using the mathematical principles discussed earlier. Given the nature of the area, the book is written with a lot of attention to instructional impact. The best recommendation for the book is by Dijkstra: The topic deserves no less author... To get the message across requires a scientist that combines his scientific involvement in the subject with the precious gifts of a devoted teacher".

Simply put, a book that re-introduces the idea of program correctness over all else. An excellent source on program design & analysis, checking for correctness using a logic-based approach. A book that builds from the fundamentals. Not for those who are looking for quick fixes.

This book was a welcome break from the manual that comes with version 7.0. Very easy to understand the basics and it also contains alot of other stuff. I needed to create some reports quickly and this book really helped.

This book was an excellent start for Crystal. I can actually read the huge technical Crystal Report books and understand what they are reffering to. It helped open the door to a whole new world.

The best on the market you will find. The book is very easy to follow and chapters are very nicely arranged. Good work.

My company purchased Crystal Reports as the main utility for pulling data from our large relational database. I had never seen Crystal before much less used it. I got my hands on this book today at 12:30 p.m. By 1:17, I was pulling data and manipulating reports like a pro. I would recommend this book to anybody who has to learn Crystal in a hurry.

The company i work for purchased Crystal Reports for a report conversion proyect and i had never used this software before and in couple of hours i was creating some basic to complicated reports. I recomend this book for anyne who need to get hands on fast.

Used hard covered book in excellent condition, arrived in a timely manner, and at a good price

I picked up this book because we recently started a project where management uses the term "SCM" a lot, and I had no real idea of what that means. This book provides a great overview of the ideas and genesis of SCM, and why it is useful. It also provided lots of detail and examples about the ideas presented to really cement them in my mind, and translate them to activities that we currently do. I can have an intelligent, scientific conversation about SCM now, which is exactly what I was looking for. This book is really excellent.

The book is an excellent addition to your SCM library. This should be you first read if your just beginning in Software Configuration Management. The author covers the descipline well in this easy to read edition.

I am the CEO of a software company and even though I knew the importance of good SCM practices, as a small company, we procrastinated on actually implementing anything formal. Anyway, when the fires got to a point, we decided it was time we took the medicine to get serious about SCM and I turned to Mr. Leon's book for help. I also sifted through a bunch of other books on the topic at libraries and bookstores and was immediately overwhelmed by the seeming complexity and all the jargon. The simple language, the concise explanations and the organization of content in Mr. Leon's book served as almost a how-to-manual for me as we went about implementing SCM concepts in our organization. I bought a couple of copies of the new edition for my two EPMs and they have been unanimous in their praise of this book as well. If you're looking to bring some order into your software development world through SCM, I would highly recommend you start with this book.

The first four chapters of this book might be called: "Why do Software Configuration Management." And they are excellent. If these explanations make sense to you, you might implement SCM before you look around at the software project and find that part of the source code is missing, the source code of this sub-routine doesn't match the binaries, this bug that was fixed is back, and any number of other problems.

The next several chapters go into the fundamentals of SCM. This includes such things as the mundane definition of configuration numbers and the reports that need to be issued.

Just when you are getting to the point where you know that this can't be done, the book goes into the SCM automation tools that are available. Chapter 16 talks about the general functions that can be performed by the SCM tools. Finally he gives a list of the most popular high-end SCM tools. (Mr. Leon - in the next edition of your book I'd like to see some comments made about each of these tools. Just a short sentence or two would be nice to help me narrow down the list of likely suppliers.) For low-end (and low-cost, even free) tools, he points you to the cmcrossroads.com web site for a comprehensive and frequently updated list of suppliers.

This book is a valuable introduction to the whys and wherefores of software configuration management. It will tell management what can be expected and if you're assigned to the task, it will get you well started.

I am a beginner Solaris administrator and was recommended this book on the net. I am glad I got it - in about 200 pages it manages to introduce many security aspects of running a Solaris system, even explaining such things as risk management.

This book is the most up to date book on solaris security. It has a good resources list, as well as hands on intro to IPsec. The Kerberos chapter could be longer, but it sets you thinking anyway; the first chapter gives real insight into security in plain English. Overall it does what it says.

This book was what I needed. It is the perfect refference book for it's topic. I like the size of the book; it was not crammed with useless pictures, tables, or filler.
Sure, you can pour over tons of online Sun Documentation scatterd thoughout the Answerbook series or even dig through the man pages. Who has that much time? I needed to get quick organized understanding of my options in securing Solaris 8. Some of the chapters will be basic reading for some and reviews for others. However, a new Solaris admin who need to learn good idas on security can start here. The experienced UNIX/Linux/BSD admin can also pick up this book to learn the specific options available on the Solaris plateform. You will also learn about the short-comings of it as well (such as not coming with ssh; remedied in Solaris 9). You learn how to configure the Solaris TCP/IP stack and it's implementation of IPSEC. These two where the most useful chapters in the whole book for me.
All in all, if you admin Solaris 7/8/9 you should check this book out.

I found this book very handy, if it does not answer some of the questions about certain solaris security issues it, at least, points you to the right direction. In fact it is an encyclopedia of Security for Solaris admins.

Mark Twain once said that he didn’t have enough time to write short stories, so he was forced to write long novels. In that vein, there are plenty of computer books in print that comprise more than 1000 pages, cover every topic under the sun, and include a CD-ROM with often-obsolete freeware tools. Such tomes are often a waste of time and money because the contents are primarily filler with little added value.

Solaris 8 Security, on the other hand, provides a very good overview of Solaris security without the bulk of unnecessary and often extraneous information. The book covers a lot of ground. The author covers key issues involved with the various aspects of securing Solaris systems, but does not get bogged down in page-wasting minutiae.

The first three chapters provide a good introduction to basic security, cryptography, and system security issues. Chapter 4 gives a good synopsis of the authentication and authorization facilities in Solaris 8. The chapter includes information about the basics, such as etc/passwd and /etc/shadow, and the new RBAC (Role Based Access Control) functionality that is available in Solaris 8. In the past, RBAC was only available on Trusted Solaris; now it is included in standard versions of Solaris 8 and above.

RBAC attempts to solve the problem of network users having far more network access than is necessary. The fact is that most existing networks allow users to access 10 to 20 times more resources than they will ever use or need. Because authorized users commit roughly 80% of computer crime, providing too much access is a huge security risk. So how does a systems administrator reduce overall user permissions by 70-90%, while providing users with the necessary access on a need-to-know and need-to-do basis? RBAC.

Further chapters in Solaris 8 Security deal with Kerberos, auditing and accounting, and open source security tools. Chapters 8 through 10 conclude the book with overviews of network security and IPSec. Chapter 8 has some very helpful hints on fine-tuning the Solaris 8 TCP/IP stack via various configuration tools and files. Chapter 10 details how to secure various network services including HTTP and NFS.

Anyone looking for a well-focused book on Solaris security should take a look at Solaris 8 Security . It’s an excellent starting point, and at fewer than 200 pages, it provides a really good introduction to Solaris security without wasting readers’ time, money, or trees.

A must have book. Without a doubt this is the most comprehensive book available in the industry. Great authors! Experts in telecommunication industry. Check out their other publications, all invaluable resources.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. This book is pertinent to the library of any Telecommunications Personnel. It's quite thorough and equipped with the most recent information from the telecommunications industry.

I have 32 years in telecommunications. This book is an exceptional resource. Every essential topic is covered and provides specific and detailed information.

Amazing book. Best source in MAN arena. A must have!

Besause they have been written by the same person. Perhaps by friends of the authors or by the publisher (I don't want to blaim the authors because they have may good books published so far and I own most of them). On the other hand these reviews don't change the fact that this is a really good book on MANs with sonet (though it is not the MAN bible). Warmly recommended.

My wife and I have both read Susan's book...WOW...it's hard to believe one person could endure so much in a lifetime. It shows the POWER of our Lord and His faithfulness in taking the bad and using it for His good. Susan is so candid in sharing her story and we would highly recommend it! No matter what you have done in your past, when you turn to God, He will forgive your past and give you a bright future. No matter what you may be going through, remember we serve a God that loves you and will never leave nor forsake you!!! Jeremiah 29:11 states, For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future. Ephesians 3:20 states that God will do more than you could ever ask, think, or imagine. Susan's book, "SOULLESS" is a must read!

Soulless is a powerful story by a woman who has been on the brink of her existence, but was able to find her way back. Susan Stafford has lived a life straight out of a nightmare. Yet, her faith in God has brought her through it all. Now, not only has she survived and changed her life, but she is also helping others. Susan shares her story and provides plenty of resources so that others don't have to go through the thing she did. By listing all the resources she does, someone who is trapped in that life may find their way out. This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to read about a journey of faith and hope.

This book was inspirational. I feel honored that she felt that she could be so honest. I was skeptical at first (going off the subtitle) but was very pleasantly surprised. She seems like an amazing woman, and an awesome person. I used to look at women that were willing to do that in a very bad light. She has helped me to see that she is no different than any of us.

Her pictures show that she is very beautiful but after reading her book she seems to be as beautiful on the inside as the outside. I really feel differently, after reading this book. It was hard to put down. What a compassionate and courageous woman. She had many difficult breaks in life from childhood and on, and out of all of that she grew closer to the Lord. She brought me closer to the Lord and reminded me that with God all things are possible......

This book is a powerful testimony of the transforming power of God in the heart of a broken individual. Susan doesn't pull punches about the uglies parts of her life and the negative consequences she has suffered. She doesn't gloss over her the truth to make a rosy picture of salvation. This is a great testimony about God's healing, God's grace and one woman's survival against the odds of abuse and addiction!

The courage that Susan displays in telling such a sordid story is to be greatly admired, and she proves once again that the redemptive power of our Creator knows no limitations. Susan has given me a further understanding of a world that is completely foreign to me. It is beyond my comprehension how a father could pimp his own daughter and sexually abuse her. In my world, parents (both father and mother) protect and nurture their offspring, even sacrificing their own lives if necessary to save the lives of their children. I cannot fathom the nightmare that Susan lived through. And the fact that she survived is a miracle in itself! I am grateful for this insight, for Susan's courage, for the reclamation of her life by our Creator, and for Susan's ministry in taking God's redemptive power to others. My wife and I are honored to welcome Susan and her family into our lives as newfound friends.

Carl Stewart
Producer, "Daddy's Favorite Toy"
www.CSproductions.info