More than half of Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume II consists of source code, so it is basically a commentary on a particular implementation of the TCP/IP protocols. The implementation presented is that of the authors' own Xinu operating system (basically a Unix variant). While I'm not generally fond of introducing new systems for pedagogical purposes, Xinu seems close enough to standard Unix that it doesn't really matter, and using it does have a couple of advantages. One is that it is possible to print (and make available for ftp) the complete source code without copyright problems, the other is that the Xinu code seems slightly cleaner, more general and easier to follow than some alternatives (e.g. the Linux code).

Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume II is an entertaining way to learn about TCP/IP implementation, and probably useful as a reference if you ever want to hack TCP/IP code. The reader is assumed to have a basic understanding of the protocols already; if you're after a general introduction you want Volume I.

July 1994

External links:

- buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Related reviews:

- Douglas E. Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume I: Principles, Protocols and Architecture
- books about networking
- books published by Prentice Hall