[April 1998]


This list of books on various computer topics was created by me to update my company's library. Unfortunately I own very few of them, but there's always a birthday or christmas or other gift occassion around the corner, so I'm slowly but surely building up a nice collection . . . just in time for them to become completely obsolete, no doubt.

Most of these entries are from O'Reilly, due either to the excellence of their books or my personal bias, take your pick.

Not all of the nicknames are accurate; some editions have different covers, some lack colophons, and some I simply haven't ever held in my hands. Please be so kind as to mail me with any corrections regarding nicknames, prices, additions to this list, and your opinions as to which books are worth reading & keeping and which are not.

ok
dpm



overall grade (choose one)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A = so useful you should velcro it to your hip
    B = useful enough to keep in a prime spot on the bookshelves
    C = partially useful
    D = bad, wrong, inaccurate, dated, lightweight
    E = so useless it would be inhumane to make a luser read it


extra comments (choose all that apply)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * = the canonical publication on the matter
    ! = entertaining, well written
    $ = overpriced
    & = poorly written (longwinded, dry, boring)
    ? = poorly written (grammar, punctuation, spelling)
    @ = concerning a subject best left untouched (oracle, windows 95, etc.)


author codes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    STE = books written by W. Richard Stevens
    KNU = books written by Donald E. Knuth
    NEM = books written by Evi Nemeth et. al.
    COM = books written by Douglas Comer et. al.
    RAM = books written by Rick Ramsey
    ORA = books published by O'Reilly and Associates


authorgradepricecover/nicknameISBNtitle

sysadmin/netadmin
RAM_____$ 51n/a 0-13309-576-2All About Administering NIS+
ORA_____$ 35APPALOOSA HORSE 1-56592-250-6Apache: The Definitive Guide
ORA_____$ 33GRASSHOPPER 1-56592-236-0DNS and BIND, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 35ARMADILLO 1-56592-127-5Essential System Administration
ORA_____$ 30BOBACS 1-56592-062-7Managing Internet Information Services
ORA_____$ 30HORSE 1-56592-320-0Managing IP Networks with Cisco Routers
ORA_____$ 28TREE PORCUPINES 0-937175-75-7Managing NFS and NIS
ORA_____$ 33CHICKENS 1-56592-198-4Managing USENET
ORA_____$ 30JERBOA 1-56592-123-2Networking Personal Computers with TCP/IP
ORA_____$ 40BAT 1-56592-222-0sendmail, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 7THIN BAT 1-56592-278-6sendmail Desktop Reference
ORA_____$ 30SWORDFISH 0-937175-60-9System Performance Tuning
ORA_____$ 33LAND CRAB 1-56592-322-7TCP/IP Network Administration, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 22COCKATOO 0-937175-22-6termcap & terminfo
ORA_____$ 60POWER DRILL 1-56592-260-3UNIX Power Tools, 2nd Edition
NEM_____$ 64THE RED BOOK 0-13-151051-7UNIX System Administration Handbook, 2nd Edition (1995)
ORA_____$ 30GRIZZLY BEAR 1-56592-153-4Using & Managing UUCP
ORA_____$ 33TURTLE 1-56592-321-9Using and Managing PPP
ORA_____$ 18FINGERS 1-56592-104-6When You Can't Find Your UNIX System Administrator

unix operating systems
ORA_____$ 30PURPLE 1-56592-078-34.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 30GREEN 1-56592-079-14.4 BSD Programmer's Supplementary Documents
ORA_____$ 30ORANGE 1-56592-080-54.4 BSD System Manager's Manual
ORA_____$ 30RED 1-56592-075-94.4 BSD User's Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 30BLUE 1-56592-076-74.4 BSD User's Supplementary Documents
ORA_____$ 30BUCKING HORSE 1-56592-292-1Linux Device Drivers
ORA_____$ 20ARABIAN HORSE 1-56592-167-4Linux in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 33COWBOY 1-56592-219-0Linux Multimedia Guide
ORA_____$ 25STOCKMAN 1-56592-087-2Linux Network Administrator's Guide
ORA_____$ 30COWBOY ON HORSE 1-56592-151-8Running Linux, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 20PURPLE REFEREES 1-56592-037-6SCO UNIX in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 10BLUE REFEREES 1-56592-001-5UNIX in a Nutshell: System V and Solaris 2.0 Edition
ORA_____$ 35LION 1-56592-163-1UNIX Systems Programming for SVR4

unix shells
ORA_____$ 30SILVER BASS 1-56592-147-XLearning the bash Shell
ORA_____$ 30TURTLE 1-56592-054-6Learning the Korn Shell
ORA_____$ 25OYSTERCATCHER 1-56592-132-1Using csh & tcsh
ORA_____$ 10HORNED OWL 1-56592-390-1Learning the UNIX Operating System, 4th Edition
ORA_____$ 30HIP OWLS 1-56592-257-3Mastering Regular Expressions

programming
ORA_____$ 30RACCOONS 1-56592-117-8Applying RCS and SCCS
ORA_____$ 13GONZO 0-937175-30-7Checking C Programs with lint
ORA_____$ 25COATIMUNDI 1-56592-116-XC++: The Core Language
ORA_____$ 30CROWNED PIGEONS 1-56592-000-7lex & yacc
ORA_____$ 20POTTA 0-937175-90-0Managing Projects with make
ORA_____$ 30IGUANA 1-56592-126-7Porting UNIX Software
ORA_____$ 30KANGAROO 0-937175-77-3Power Programming with RPC
ORA_____$ 33CHIPMUNK 1-56592-139-9Practical C++ Programming
ORA_____$ 33COW 1-56592-306-5Practical C Programming, 3rd Edition
ORA_____$ 45ROCK PYHTON 1-56592-197-6Programming Python
ORA_____$ 13WARTHOG 0-937175-02-1Programming with curses
ORA_____$ 40BLACK SWAN 1-56592-112-7Programming with GNU Software
ORA_____$ 33SILKWORM 1-56592-115-1Pthreads Programming
ORA_____$ 30SLENDER LORIS 1-56592-225-5sed & awk, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 33BOA CONSTRICTOR 1-56592-226-3Software Portability with imake, 2nd Edition
STE_____$ 68n/a 0-13949-876-1UNIX: Network Programming
STE_____$ 64n/a 0-20156-317-7Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment
STE_____$ 57n/a 0-20163-346-9TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1 (Protocols)
STE_____$ 60n/a 0-20163-354-XTCP/IP Illustrated Vol 2 (Implementation)
STE_____$ 41n/a 0-20163-495-3TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 3 (TCP for Transactions)
COM_____$ 59n/a 0-13-216987-8Internetworking With TCP/IP (Vol 1): Principles, Protocols, and Architecture
COM_____$ 62n/a 0-13-125527-4Internetworking With TCP/IP (Vol 2): Design, Implementation, and Internals
COM_____$ 57n/a 0-13-260969-XInternetworking With TCP/IP (Vol 3): Client-Server Programming and Applications [BSD Socket]
COM_____$ 58n/a 0-13-474230-3Internetworking With TCP/IP (Vol 3): Client-Server Programming and Applications [AT&T TLI]
COM_____$ 50n/a 0-13-848714-6Internetworking With TCP/IP (Vol 3): Client-Server Programming and Applications [Windows Sockets]
KNU_____$ 50n/a 0-20189-683-4The Art of Computer Programming: Fundamental Algorithms (Vol 1, 3rd Ed)
KNU_____$ 46n/a 0-20189-684-2The Art of Computer Programming: Seminumerical Algorithms (Vol 2, 3rd Ed)
KNU_____$ 50n/a 0-20189-685-0The Art of Computer Programming: Sorting and Searching (Vol 3, 2nd Ed)
KNU_____$ 22n/a 0-20103-804-8The Art of Computer Programming:n/a (Vol 4)
ORA_____$ 50EXTENSION CORDS 1-56592-218-2Tcl/Tk Tools
ORA_____$ 33RHESUS MONKEY 1-56592-090-2Exploring Expect

security
ORA_____$ 33CASTLE DOORWAY 1-56592-124-0Building Internet Firewalls
ORA_____$ 25POLICEMAN 1-56592-086-4Computer Crime
ORA_____$ 30KEY 0-937175-71-4Computer Security Basics
ORA_____$ 30LOCK 1-56592-098-8PGP: Pretty Good Privacy
ORA_____$ 40SAFE 1-56592-148-8Practical UNIX & Internet Security, 2nd Edition

Perl
ORA_____$ 20CAMEL HEAD 1-56592-286-7Perl in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 30CAMEL 1-56592-284-0Learning Perl, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 30SALAMANDER 1-56592-324-3Learning Perl on Win32 Systems
ORA_____$ 40ONE-HUMP CAMEL 1-56592-149-6Programming Perl, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 35BLACK JAGUAR 1-56592-220-4Advanced Perl Programming
ORA_____$ 7TWO CAMELS 1-56592-187-9Perl 5 Desktop Reference
ORA_____$ 150n/a 1-56592-370-7The Perl Resource Kit -- UNIX Edition
ORA_____$ 30PELICAN 1-56592-214-XWeb Client Programming with Perl

editors
ORA_____$ 25TARSIER 0-937175-67-6Learning the vi Editor
ORA_____$ 30GNU 1-56592-152-6Learning GNU Emacs, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 30GIRAFFE 1-56592-261-1Writing GNU Emacs Extensions

Java
ORA_____$ 20TIGER 1-56592-262-XJava in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 30JACKS & BALL 1-56592-270-0Database Programming with JDBC and Java
ORA_____$ 30n/a 1-56592-300-6Designing with JavaScript
ORA_____$ 30BEANS & FLOWERPOT 1-56592-289-1Developing Java Beans
ORA_____$ 33SUITCASE 1-56592-271-9Exploring Java, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 40SQUEEGEE 1-56592-240-9Java AWT Reference
ORA_____$ 33TINKERTOYS 1-56592-206-9Java Distributed Computing
ORA_____$ 20n/a 1-56592-371-5Java Examples in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 45BLOCKS 1-56592-241-7Java Fundamental Classes Reference
ORA_____$ 33BINOCULARS 1-56592-326-XJava Language Reference, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 35GYROSCOPE 1-56592-227-1Java Network Programming
ORA_____$ 60n/a 1-56592-359-6Java Reference Library on the Web
ORA_____$ 33RHINOCEROS 1-56592-234-4JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 33EGGS IN NEST 1-56592-403-7Java Security
ORA_____$ 30TOP 1-56592-216-6Java Threads
ORA_____$ 33GOLDFISH IN BOWL 1-56592-194-1Java Virtual Machine
ORA_____$ 20FISH 1-56592-343-XNetscape IFC in a Nutshell

DCE
ORA_____$ 30PURPLE DCE 1-56592-134-8DCE Security Programming
ORA_____$ 25GREEN DCE 1-56592-047-3Distributing Applications Across DCE and Windows NT
ORA_____$ 30BLUE DCE 1-56592-045-7Guide to Writing DCE Applications
ORA_____$ 25RED DCE 1-56592-005-8Understanding DCE

web page nonsense
ORA_____$ 20CRAB SPIDER 1-56592-229-8WebMaster in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 33KOALA 1-56592-235-2HTML: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 25POLAR BEAR 1-56592-282-4Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-190-9Key Specifications of the World Wide Web
ORA_____$ 60n/a 1-56592-279-4Building Your Own Web Conferences
ORA_____$ 59n/a 1-56592-232-8Building Your Own WebSite
ORA_____$ 30PEEPING EYES 1-56592-329-4Web Security: A Matter of Trust
ORA_____$ 33WHALE SHARK 1-56592-269-7Web Security & Commerce
ORA_____$ 25BLUE ALCHEMIST 1-56592-155-0The Whole Internet for Windows 95
ORA_____$ 25WHITE ALCHEMIST 1-56592-063-5The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog
ORA_____$ 40JELLYFISH 1-56592-296-4Win32 Multithreaded Programming
ORA_____$ 33MOUSE 1-56592-168-2CGI Programming on the World Wide Web
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-165-8Designing for the Web

MS Office
ORA_____$ 22WILD BOAR 1-56592-309-XExcel 97 Annoyances
ORA_____$ 22DODO 1-56592-310-3Office 97 Annoyances
ORA_____$ 22OPPOSUM 1-56592-308-1Word 97 Annoyances
ORA_____$ 25ANTEATER 1-56592-297-2Access Database Design & Programming

Windows 95
ORA_____$ 20FROG 1-56592-316-2Windows 95 in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 30TOAD 1-56592-266-2Windows Annoyances
ORA_____$ 33DOG 1-56592-170-4Inside the Windows 95 Registry
ORA_____$ 33MOLLUSK 1-56592-200-XInside the Windows 95 File System

Windows NT
ORA_____$ 20EAGLE 1-56592-251-4Windows NT in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 35BABOON 1-56592-274-3Essential Windows NT System Administration
ORA_____$ 30SQUID 1-56592-301-4Windows NT User Administration
ORA_____$ 30HYENA 1-56592-272-7Windows NT Backup & Restore
ORA_____$ 50VULTURE 1-56592-249-2Windows NT File System Internals
ORA_____$ 40PANTHER 1-56592-280-8Windows NT Server 4.0 for NetWare Administrators
ORA_____$ 35MOOSE 1-56592-338-3Windows NT SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol

X
ORA_____$ 20GREEN REFEREES 1-56592-017-1The X Window System in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-083-XX Volume 0: X Protocol Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-002-3X Volume 1: Xlib Programming Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-006-6X Volume 2: Xlib Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-015-5X Volume 3M: X Window System User's Guide
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-014-7X Volume 3: X Window System User's Guide
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-013-9X Volume 4M: X Toolkit Intrinsics Programming Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-007-4X Volume 5: X Toolkit Intrinsics Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-016-3X Volume 6A: Motif Programming Manual
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-038-4X Volume 6B: Motif Reference Manual
ORA_____$ 30n/a 0-937175-83-8X Volume 8: X Window System Administrator's Guide
ORA_____$ 50SWISS ARMY KNIFE 1-56592-019-8X User Tools
ORA_____$ 30n/a 1-56592-089-9Programmer's Supplement for Release 6 (X)

Oracle
ORA_____$ 43MOTH 1-56592-238-7Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages
ORA_____$ 40PRAYING MANTIS 1-56592-239-5Mastering Oracle Power Objects
ORA_____$ 15DRAGONFLY 1-56592-361-8Oracle8 Design Tips
ORA_____$ 40DRAGONFLY 1-56592-268-9Oracle Design
ORA_____$ 45HONEYBEE 1-56592-237-9Oracle Performance Tuning, 2nd Edition
ORA_____$ 45ANTS 1-56592-335-9Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 2nd Edition

leftovers
ORA_____$ 18HAND-GUN 1-56592-156-9Bandits on the Information Superhighway
ORA_____$ 90n/a 1-56592-287-5The Be Book
ORA_____$ 22n/a 1-56592-030-9The Computer User's Survival Guide
ORA_____$ 40BASILISK 1-56592-356-1Developing Windows Error Messages
ORA_____$ 20ELECTRICITY 1-56592-158-5Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms
ORA_____$ 37n/a 1-56592-209-3Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM
ORA_____$ 80GEMS 1-56592-161-5Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats
ORA_____$ 23n/a 1-56592-085-6The Future Does Not Compute
ORA_____$ 30PIGS 1-56592-154-2Getting Connected
ORA_____$ 40n/a 1-56592-230-1GIF Animation Studio
ORA_____$ 20CARTOGRAPHER 1-56592-323-5Internet in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 40WALRUS 1-56592-247-6Learning VBScript
ORA_____$ 35n/a 1-56592-352-9Macromedia Flash Studio
ORA_____$ 30SPIDER 1-56592-051-1Making TeX Work
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-160-7NetActivism: How Citizens Use the Internet
ORA_____$ 30n/a 1-56592-258-1NetLaw: How Lawyers Use the Internet
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-201-8NetLearning: Why Teachers Use the Internet
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-291-3NetLessons: Web-Based Projects for Your Classroom
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-245-XNetResearch: Finding Information Online
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-213-1NetSuccess: How Real Estate Agents Use the Internet
ORA_____$ 25n/a 1-56592-172-0NetTravel: How Travelers Use the Internet
ORA_____$ 20SECRETARY BIRD 1-56592-313-8Photoshop in a Nutshell
ORA_____$ 40n/a 1-56592-231-XShockwave Studio
ORA_____$ 6SMILEYS 1-56592-041-4Smileys
ORA_____$ 15n/a 1-56592-103-8Using Email Effectively
ORA_____$ 30BLOWFISH 1-56592-043-0Understanding Japanese Information Processing
ORA_____$ 30PUFFINS 1-56592-319-7Virtual Private Networks
ORA_____$ 20WALRUS HEAD 1-56592-294-8Visual Basic Controls in a Nutshell