Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!gatech!purdue!decwrl!ucbvax!LBL.GOV!forrest From: forrest@LBL.GOV Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Davidson's book vs. Comer's book Message-ID: <880512092448.2260d215@Csa4.LBL.Gov> Date: 12 May 88 16:24:48 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 20 I recently read both books, starting off as a complete novice. As I recall, the introduction to Davidson's book states that the book used to be a document that was distributed to marketing and sales people so that they'd have some idea what all the buzz words mean (my interpretation). With this as a goal the book is OK. But, I wanted a more in depth study of TCP/IP which is why I turned to Comer's book. Comer's book is MUCH better although some of the chapters (specifically those dealing with routing) didn't feel right. This is probably my fault and I intend to reread the whole book a second time. For the time being, Comer's book is the only entry in the race for the perfect TCP/IP book. Anyone new to TCP/IP, or anyone who wants to fill in holes in their knowledge would benefit greatly from reading it. I know I did. By the way, on page 40, the second high order bit on a class C address is shown incorrectly in Figure 4.1 (this was pointed out to me by someone else). I've submitted this type to the tcp-typos account. Jon Forrest Lawrence Berkeley Lab. FORREST@LBL.GOV