An Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: Atm Networks, the Internet, and the Telephone Network

I don't have anything other than superlatives for this book. I would probably compare this with, say, "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie, which is an accepted C programming bible. The book is NOT painfully huge yet it makes the reader get the right intuition very easily on almost every topic in networking.Every concept either has either a) rigourous analysis b) references to where rigourous analysis could be found c) or bothI particularly liked the "scheduling" chapter coz I had to read a couple of research papers on the topic, yet my basic intuition wasn't strong. In the next edition (if there is one planned), I would like to see concepts on GPRS, 3rd Generation Wireless Systems and even 4th generation IP-core cellular systems (ICEBERG research project at UC berkeley) considering that there are > 500 million cellphones worldwide and increasing at a much faster rate than Internet.<p>Dr. Keshav, if you do read this, I would like to thank you for doing such a wonderful turn to the networking community by writing this terrific book.

This is one of the few books that starts with atoms and goes right upto traffic characterizations. Beginners can also benefit a lot from this book, though they might sometimes have to refer to other more basic books. The approach is fantastic and the explanations are great. He uses examples which clarify your concepts and make you think. There is an entire chapter on design issues. That one is a winner. There is also a great bibliography at the end. It makes you wonder; all the time and effort required to write a book of such clarity. The book is great. Its worth the time and the money.

While quite usefull as a general text in networking, I find this book to be one of my best resources as a general reference book for networks. Very lucid, well explained sections on complex topics (scheduling, routing, for ex)are often superior to other books dedicated exclusively to such topics. I especially like the exhaustive chapter-by-chapter references given which enable me to pull additional detailed info from the WEB for a really comprehensive handling of esoteric topics when needed.

Dr. Keshav has a real winner here. For each of the past 3 groups that I have been bringing up to speed in the communications area, I have bought a case lot of this book. I pass them out and suggest people read the first 3 chapters and scan the rest. They did and they did much better work. Many come back and say that they have enjoyed the latter chapters as much as the clear introductory ones. I left my last copy with a friend, and am about to order 3 more for my new group.The insights are apropos and very clearly illustrated. The prioritization is crisp and accurate. The text is easy to get through and very rewarding to both the crossover engineer and the instructor able to use help from a master.

This is one of those rare books that had me smiling from so many "aha!" flashes of understanding... Dr. Kesav's prose is lucid and simple, without being simplistic. Numerous and well chosen examples are well integrated in the text. What's exceptional about this book is how well one can intuitively understand most of it at first read. If you really, really want to _understand_ the principles behind computer networking, read this book.