|
|
|
by Peter H. Salus <peter@pedant.com>
As one of those who signed the letter to SCO, I'd like to express public thanks to Warren and the rest of the preservers. Get your V6 license (or 32V) today! Routing Back in February, I referred to routing as an underrepresented area of the Internet. Since then, I've received two more books on routers. They are both good, but so far no one has created a "must have" item. The two volumes at hand make an interesting contrast: the Lewis is better written (in a British style), but lacks some of the detail because it tries to satisfy the novice as well as the sophisticate. Ballew's work is up to the standard we've come to expect from O'Reilly. It is a solid, thorough piece of work that comes to grips with the day-to-day needs of setting up and maintaining an IP network. It is certainly no work for the novice. Protocols and Networks There are five worthwhile books this month. Berry Kercheval's "no-nonsense" guide to internetworking is just that. I enjoyed his introductory chapter. His "obligatory OSI reference model'' and his capsule history of the ARPANET/Internet are correct. His style is good and he writes with descriptive strength. The last 40 pages (Research Directions, Standards Documents, Virtual Channel Connections, ATM Software, Glossary, Bibliography, and Index) are truly outstanding. The OSPF spec was RFC1131 (1989); RFC2178 (1997) updated it. If you need to understand the need for routing and multiple paths between hosts, Moy's little book is a godsend. This isn't an easy book; it's (as the subtitle says) an "anatomy" of a protocol. Comer (in vol. 1) devotes about half a dozen pages to OSPF. Moy now supplies a full analysis and explanation. Black's volume is an interesting one. I have a prejudice against intelligent networks, largely because the IN stems from an ITU-T recommendation (Q.1201) and because the INCM (IN conceptual model) is founded on the OSI model and uses OSI "application service elements." Black does a fine job of explaining the models both the ITU-T and Bellcore versions. But this isn't a book on implementing anything. Information Architecture, on the other hand, isn't on graphics. It's about dealing with the increasing complexity of Web sites and the sorts of sites that enable virtually painless growth and emphasize navigation and ease of use. A good and painless book for those building/maintaining/using Web sites. Ferguson and Huston have written the first book on quality of service. Their chapter on QoS and ATM (pp. 95120) should be read in conjunction with Kercheval's book (which barely mentions QoS). Finally, I'd like to compliment the authors and publishers of these books: they are of a size that is handleable, which means they can be read, not merely consulted.
The Beans Grind On I keep getting more books on Java. I now have over 150 and am forging toward 200. What a cottage industry! But I want to put in some paragraphs about only two of them. Chan's Almanac is a truly splendid volume. At least part of it is boiled down from Chan's two volumes on Java class libraries (with Lee and Kramer), to the point that Chan claims it to be "no bigger than a pocket dictionary." He's right. At under 1K pages, it's smaller than Heinemann's Australian dictionary, but nearly double the size of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. It's a function of the size of your pocket. The Almanac is divided into four parts: Packages (describes each Java package), Classes (over 600 pages of class tables), Topics (quick reference tables), and Cross-Reference. Well done, well produced, and useful. The cover shows a tree bearing applets. Felleisen and Friedman produced their Little Lisper in 1989. In 1996, we had their Little Schemer and Seasoned Schemer. Now, two more small, handy volumes have arrived. The Little MLer is a brilliant introduction to ML, using a relatively small subset of SML. As a language lover, I can happily recommend this. Unfortunately, their Java volume, which begins with the same words as their Little MLer (but diverges halfway through page 3), lacks something. I'm not quite certain exactly what it is, but I found the Java book less "satisfying" than its fellows. But the student will certainly emerge with an understanding of classes, interfaces, design patterns, and objects. MLer is a clear winner; Java less so. Apology In my column for February, I stated that WebSite Professional lacked "remote administration capability." This isn't true: WebSite Pro has remote administration capability, it's just not browser-based. Sorry. Thumbs Down I admit that I don't like Microsoft's AFC (Application Foundation Classes). This might be because I don't like Microsoft in general, but I think it's because AFC is such a clear ripoff of the JFC. (They were announced on the same day; but Microsoft didn't get around to releasing AFC until some months after JFC. Hmmm.) AFC is quite complex, but JCF is complicated, too. AFC is also ugly. I guess this book and CD-ROM by Swildens and Sol might be useful if you were trapped in a Microsoft environment without a compass or a rifle. You know, "If it's that complicated, it must be wrong." In my April 1995 column, I said that I thought Lyn Dupre's tome was cutesy, without having the ability to actually improve anyone's writing. I read about a quarter of the new, unfortunately unimproved, edition. (I find it bizarre that Dupre recommends punctuation at odds with most other North American style sheets. If you really want something on writing, I'd suggest Strunk and White, Elements of Style [1959 and still in print]). Books reviewed in this column:
Chris Lewis
Scott M. Ballew
Berry Kercheval
John T. Moy
Uyless Black
Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville
Paul Ferguson & Geoff Huston
Patrick Chan
ISBN 0-201-37967-8. Pp. 976.
Matthias Felleisen & Daniel P. Friedman
Matthias Felleisen & Daniel P. Friedman
Eric Swildens & Selena Sol
Lyn Dupre
|
 Need help? Use our Contacts page.
First posted: 14th July 1998 efc Last changed: 14th July 1998 efc |
|
Peter H. Salus is a member of ACM, the Early English Text Society, the
Trollope Society, and is a life member of the American Oriental
Society. He has held no regular job in the past lustrum. He owns
neither a dog nor a cat.
Issue index