Our Recommended Reading List
Since we have been repeatedly asked about the
resources we rely on as references we have decided to commit this list to this web page.
Hopefully this will answer some of your questions regarding which books and such to
consider as reference material.
Each book listed has a link to Amazon.com which
has a description of the book (usually with readers' comments) -- you can also purchase
the book while you are there.
Perl References
- Programming
Perl, Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, Randal L. Schwartz, Stephen Potter (O'Reilly & Associates)
This book is an absolute necessity for any Perl programmer. Concise, explanatory and even
humorous at times. Make no mistake about it; if you are looking for only one book
regarding Perl programming this is it!
- Learning Programming,
Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Christiansen, Larry Wall (O'Reilly & Associates)
This book is a great place to start for someone who is learning Perl but has no previous programming experience. This
is not a replacement for a good reference book (like Programming Perl, but it is
a perfect place to start.
- Advanced
Perl Programming, Sriram Srinivasan (O'Reilly &
Associates)
Where as Programming Perl is a must have for Perl programmers, this book is a
must have for those who need to use Perl to it's fullest potential. Especially if you are
writing (or even just studying) Perl extensions.
-
Win32 Perl Programming: The Standard Extensions, Second Edition,
Dave Roth (New Riders Publishing)
What can we say; this is our book. It describes the standard Win32 extensions:
how to use them, how they work, what they can do and why they sometimes act the way they
act. It explains how extensions work and are written. This is a wonderful reference for
anyone needing to make use of the Win32 extensions. This is really the only book that
discusses the Win32 Perl extensions in depth.
For more information on this book
check out its web page.
-
Win32 Perl Scripting: The Administrator's Handbook, Dave Roth (New Riders
Publishing)
In this book a Win32 administrator will find scripts and concepts that make his job
exponentially easier. With clear and concise examples the book covers topics ranging from
user account management to designing effective logon scripts and from creating Win32 services
in Perl to leveraging ADSI and WMI in your scripts. This book is a must have for Win32 administrators as well as UNIX admins who find
themselves tangled in the muck of managing Win32 machines.
For more information on this book
check out its web page.
- Perl
Cookbook, Tom Christiansen & Nathan Torkington, (O'Reilly & Associates)
This is a remarkably good reference. Consider this book to be one that should be
in your library if you use Perl for anything more complex than simple job processing.
- Perl
Resource Kit Win32 Edition, (O'Reilly
& Associates)
This is a collection of Perl documentation and source code bundled in both book form and
CDROM. It does not really provide much that is not already available on the net but it
does consolidate it all in one place. The books also briefly touch base on most of the
packages and Win32 extensions. There are also additional binaries on the CDROM such as a
window Perl Debugger, PerlCtrl, PerlCOM and PL2EXE.
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- The
Standard C Library, P. J. Plauger, (Prentice Hall)
This is one of the most used C references on our shelves. Even though this book
only covers the C library (not C++) it is terrific! Plauger not only describes each
function in the standard C library he also explains how the function works. He
provides source code for each C function; with this in hand you see exactly how the
function works. The book takes a little bit to get used to its format but once you are
used to it this book will find its way from your bookshelf to your desktop.
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- ODBC
3.0 Programmer's Reference, (Microsoft
Press)
The defacto standard for ODBC programmers. When coding ODBC applications we use keep this
book (and the 2.0 version of the same book) on our desks lying open to some bookmarked
page.
- ODBC
3.5 Developer's Guide, Roger Sanders, (McGraw-Hill)
Sure the ODBC 3.x spec has become cumbersome and and frustrating but this book does a good
job at explaining how it is used. It is chock full of very good C code examples and
explains issues which the regular ODBC Programmers Reference either ignores or only alludes
to.
- Programming
The Perl DBI, Tim Bunce & Alligator Descartes, (O'Reilly & Associates)
This book is less about ODBC and more about Perl's equivilent DBI (DataBase Interface).
DBI is a terrific database technology worth learning even though it only exists in Perl. More importantly DBI
is cross platform so scripts that use it can easily be ported between UNIX, Win32, Mac, etc. Tim and
Alligator are the driving forces behind the DBI so they are perfectly positioned as the
authorities to discuss it.
This is an important book to true Perl hacks and should not be ignored. It is well written
with concise code samples and clearly written examples. If you do any kind of database
programming in Perl then this book is required reading.
- Inside
ODBC, Kyle Geiger (Microsoft Press)
Kyle Geiger does a wonderful job at not only explaining how the ODBC API works but gives
in depth background to illustrate how the ODBC specification has come about. This is a
great book, even though it is now out of print.
- The
Linux Database, Fred Butzen, Dorothy Forbes, (MIS Press)
This is one of the only ODBC/JDBC references that covers ODBC and JDBC on the Linux
platform. Whereas this book will not explain ODBC in detail it does explain ODBC on the
Linux platform. This is a good compliment to a good ODBC reference. Even if you are not
coding for Linux the sections that cover Java's JDBC is worth look over.
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- TCP/IP
Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols, W. Richard Stevens, (Addison Wesley)
This is the first of three defacto standard TCP/IP references. Volume 1 covers
all TCP and IP related protocols. For anyone interested in socket programming this is an
absolute must! The TCP/IP protocols are covered in detail. Even though this book is
based on BSD sockets it is also applicable to the Win32 environment since Winsock makes
use of Berkley sockets.
- TCP/IP
Illustrated, Volume 3: TCP for Transactions, W. Richard Stevens, (Addison Wesley)
Volume 3 of Steven's three part series on TCP/IP programming. This volume covers
the T/TCP transaction extensions. This book is not quite as useful as the previous two
volumes but it does go into detail on how to implement more efficient HTTP and NNTP
transactions. It also covers the UNIX domain protocols.
- Firewalls
and Internet Security, William Cheswick, Steven Bellovin, (Addison Wesley)
Here is a good reference which discusses the concepts of security and hacking.
Different forms of attacks are discussed as well as how to best secure a networked
environment. This does not focus on the steps to take to secure a particular platform but
it describes the issues at hand. An administrator armed with this information can use it
to figure where his system is most vulnerable.
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- Windows
NT Security, Nik Okuntseff (R & D Books)
This is the only book on NT security that does a good job at describing the
details of NT security. This is not an administrators guide but a programmers reference.
It covers how to handle Access Control Entries, Access Control Lists, Security
Descriptors, Privileges, Token access and the list goes on.
For anyone needing to program NT security this is a must have!
- Win32
Programming, Brent E. Rector & Joseph M. Newcomer (Addison Wesley)
This is one of the most comprehensive reference books on Win32 that I have found useful.
It covers almost everything from basic Window application design, Window and control
management, DLLs, memory management, and tons more.
- Win32
Network Programming, Ralph Davis (Addison Wesley
Developers Press)
This book explains how the various Win32 networking API's work including Winsock (TCP/IP
socket) programming. The concepts are not only covered but sample code as well as MFC
considerations are provided as well.
- Inside
the Windows NT File System, Helen Custer (Microsoft
Press)
Here is a reference book which gets right to the point. It discusses the NT File
System (NTFS) quite thoroughly. Anyone planning on working with NTFS should consider
getting this book, even though it is out of print.
Don't expect, however, to find information regarding setting file security on files and
directories. This book deals mainly with the NTFS model and how it works. For info on
setting security on objects refer to Nik Okuntseff's Windows NT Security book
(listed above).
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- Essential
Windows NT Administration, Æleen Frisch, (O'Reilly
& Associates)
One of a few NT administration books that is worth its price. Æleen details
issues that anyone who administrates NT machines and networks should know. She explains
how to automate jobs using such tools as batch files and Perl scripts. A remarkable book
that should be on every NT administrators book shelf.
- Exchange
& Outlook: Constructing Collaborative Solutions, Joel Semeniuk and Duncan Mackenzie,
(New Riders Publishing)
This is a well constructed book that covers Microsoft Exchange, Outlook and related
topics. If you are responsible for providing solutions that interact with Exchange then
you need this book. It covers the little known topic of Collaborative
Data Objects (CDO) providing a simple interface into Exchange message stores.
Hint to Perl Win32::OLE coders...this book describes the CDO object model. This is
the information that you need to know how to leverage Win32::OLE with Exchange.
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This is a list of books that we have found to be interesting. They are not necessarily
computer related but they do represent some of the reading tastes of our developers.
Virology
- The
Hot Zone, Richard Preston
So you have heard of the Ebola virus. So you have read that it has a 90% fatality
rate. So you understand that it only occurs in Africa. Ah, but that is where you are
wrong. Ebola has found its way to the US and as The Hot Zone explains it was even
found in Reston, Virginia! This book retells the true story about how the army was
mobilized to quel an outbreak of Ebola just miles away from our nations capital!
If you chuckled at the absurtity of the movie, Outbreak, then read this book.
The movie was based on this story (albeit loosely). Once you read this book you will
want to double or triple funding for the Centers for Desease Control.
- The
Cobra Event, Richard Preston
This is a fictional story (unlike Mr. Preston's The Hot Zone) about what
can happen if terrorists make use of a genetically altered virus. Reading this book at
night can leave you unable to fall asleep. This is one very exciting story especially
since all the details of the story are based in fact. The story is not true but the
details are possible.
- The
Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, Laurie Garrett
This is one seriously excellent book! Ms. Garrett covers an entire spectrum of the
virus world ranging from Ebola to Legionnaire's disease and from the flu to HIV. If you are
interested in what a virus is truly capable of then read this book! If you are not
concerned about what a flu virus can do then read this book and reconsider your point of
view!
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Fiction
- The
Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Ursula K. LeGuin
The story was required reading in a college science literature
class but unlike most college material this story makes an impact. It tells of
a scientist born and raised in an exiled anarchist world who tries to
understand the people from which his culture was spawned.
Be warned that this is a
book for thinking people with an open mind. It isn't something you would
light hartedly read. Don't expect Captain Kirk to set phasers on kill in this
story. ;)
- Nine
Princes In Amber, Roger Zelazny
Someone once posted a review about this book expressing envy for
anyone who has yet to read it. We can not agree more.
Amber is a place. A perfect place. Call it the palace of perfection.
contrasted with the Courts of Chaos. Amber is at one extreme in the
universe and the Courts of Chaos are at the other. If you leave one
of them, regardless of the direction you head, you will end up at the
other. Inbetween these two places are an almost infinite number of
shadow worlds, which Earth's reality happens to be one of them.
From the first sceen in the hostpital where Corwin wakes not knowing
who he is or why he is there you will be hooked. Then from there you
can rest assured there are an entire series of books waiting for you.
- To
Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
As fiction stories go this is one of the best. Farmer introduces
you to the Riverworld; a world where everyone who has ever lived on
Earth (from primitive cave men to astronauts) is reborn with full
health on the banks of a massive river which flows from as far North
to as far South as anyone can imagine. Nobody understands why or how
they are there. Could this be Heaven? Hell? Something totally different?
Kinda shakes your preconcieved notions.
If you like this book your are in luck because it is the first in a
series of five.
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