The book was well written and addresses many areas from a high level perspective. The book takes a tactic of here is the information, followed by a colored summary box telling you what was just covered; that's a nice format. The materials covered appear to be as up to date as can be expected with regards to the rapid pace of change in the IT field. Unfortunately, it's rather difficult to provide a meaningful review of the book because this is a text book within a Master's course where this particular book in inadequate to the materials and concepts required by the course. This is not reflection the book, but rather of the course. I do not recommend this book for any class other than rudimentary introduction to networking (e.g. 100-200 level).
this book by Comer covers the breadth of networking. It's quite deep in some subjects, like history of early network technology and mediums outside of copper wires. It could have a better programming section. Theres like 1 network programming example and a library that's supposed to make network programming easier but sense it just wraps the sockets api, Its advantage is unclear. A little explanations of patterns of use of the socket functions as a whole would be better. Most of these functions have analogs in python (its pritty much a direct translation function per function) perhaps in this garbage collection, endian free language, you can learn more about the pattern better. The section on IPv6 is quite nice.
This book gives a comprehensive overview of computer networks and internet. Since its coverage is broad, it does not go into much detail but gives one the general overview of computer networks. It is appropriate for someone who wants to understand how the internet works, but does not need an in depth knowledge.
The book is well written, non-mathematical and explains the concepts in a way that a beginner would understand. The chapters are short, concise and very readable, making it a very good introductory book on the subject. It covers almost anything you can think of in networking.
By far the best book in the list is "Computer Networking" by Kurose and Ross. This book covers all of the essential material that is in the other books but manages to do so in a relevant and entertaining way. This book is very up to date as seen by the release of the 5th Ed when the 4th Ed is barely two years old. There are lots of practical exercises using wireshark and the companion website is actually useful and relevant. The attitude of this book with regard to teaching networking concepts could be summed up as "try it out and see for yourself". One interesting thing to note is that the socket programming example are all in Java.
Next up is the Peterson and Davie book which covers everything that Kurose and Ross discuss but is slightly more mathematical in how it goes about things. There are a lot more numerical examples and defining of formulas in this book which is fine by me and in no way detracts from the book. Also the socket programming examples are in C which is a little more traditional. The points where this text loses ground to K & R is that it doesn't have the practical application exercises that K & R has and it also doesn't extend the basic networking theory that is covered to modern protocols like K & R.
The two Comer books come next. Comer's "Computer Networks" book is probably the most introductory book out of this whole list and is more of a survey of networking topics that doesn't cover anything in any real depth. Still, this is an excellent book in that it is a quick clear read that is very lucid in its explanations and you can't help feeling that you understand everything that is covered in the book. Comer's TCP/IP book is the equivalent of the other authors' computer network books and in that respect it is pretty average. It covers all of the relevant material and in a manner which is more than readable but that is all. There is nothing exceptional about the book which stands out from the rest.
Last comes Tanenbaum's book from the author who is probably most famous for his OS books. This is probably the most technical and detailed of the books with lots of sample C code belying is experience with operating systems and their network stack code. The weak point of this book is that all of the code and technical minutia might prevent the reader from seeing the forest for the trees. Unless you are trying to learn how to program your own network stack for a Unix/Linux system, then I would get either the K & R book or the P & D book to learn networking for the first time. This book would best be served as a reference in which case the technical nature of the book becomes a benefit rather than detracting from the text.
As others have said this text is suitable for beginners, do not purchase this text if you seek detail of in-depth understanding of any specific aspect of networking. However my gripe is with Amazon, this text was used, not new when I received it. New texts don't come with Checkpoint stickers inside and a sheet of notebook paper with an ad for "roomate wanted" somewhere in the vicinity of Idaho State University and a phone number and e-mail address for Deb. Also Deb might want to be more careful as the back of that same sheet listed three account numbers.
Obviously Deb didn't use the text long, it was in good shape and she never opened the CD but Amazon owes me a refund and explanation.
This is the best book to read for people who want to start into the world of computer networks, but may not come from a computer science background. If you've got a good background in CS, or are already familiar with computer/math theory, go get Andrew Tanenbaum's 'Computer Networks', as Comers book will probably not hold enough technical details for you.
This book does not require much rigorous/mathematical thinking to read through and gives a great introduction to many networking topics. (a quick example of this is how Comer mentions the CRC computing techniques only to a certain, friendly level while Tanenbaum's book jumps right into the explicit details of doing the computations by hand!!!)
In his over-all progression from the physical, data transmitting wires of a network to software application's that use networks, Comer covers a good chunk of what networks are and how they work without losing you in detail's involving lot's of 0's and 1's. :) And if after reading this book you're still hungry for more knowledge on what you'll then know to be Computer Networks, then go read Tanenbaum's book.
This is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to learn more about the internet, networking and some of the underlying hardware architecture and software theories. A non-technical book, designed to give readers a general understanding. If you're new, unexperienced and feel a little intimidated, don't worry. Mr. Comer will guide you step by step and soon you will become familiar with some of the technologies used today. LAN/WAN? ATM? DNS? Switches? Routers? OC? TCP/IP? ICMP? FTP? SNMP? You will be able to define all of these and know what they are used for. Although remember, theory only! Mid-level networking professionals may gain a little knowledge by skimming through the book, but experience users will probably find this book a bore. This book is catered toward the novice, and it's a good one at that. A nice piece of work.
Product Details :
Hardcover: 768 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley; 5th edition (April 28, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0136066984
ISBN-13: 978-0136066989
ASIN: 0136061273
Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
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