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    Computer Networking : Principles, Protocols and Practice

    Reviewed by Donald Easton, Faculty Instructor, Lane Community College on 6/20/17

    Comprehensiveness rating: 5

    What I found interesting about this book is the author's approach to order of topic discussion. As was pointed out in the introduction, most textbooks that discuss computer networking, and the OSI and TCP/IP models specifically, is that it is standard practice to begin with the physical layer and make your way up to the application layer. In this text, readers were introduced to the application layer first. The rationale behind this is that the audience has changed dramatically since computer networking came into existence. Most students have had fairly extensive exposure to the Internet, so approaching it from the point at where these individuals are on familiar ground may make it more engaging for them and assist in information retention. Many of these students are not engineers, so starting out with bits and bytes may be less appealing to them. The text is a good adaptation of this way of thinking and I feel it could be very effective in bringing in and retaining future technologists.

    Content Accuracy rating: 5

    There was no noticeable bias and the text is accurate in this content area.

    Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

    Although this book takes a different approach to introducing computer networking to students, the fundamentals of networking are fairly stationary. This author refrained from that level of specificity that would render this book obsolete within a relatively short period of time.

    Clarity rating: 4

    The book maintained a high level of clarity. I feel that there were moments where the author took us "into the weeds", but the overall flow was well done.

    Consistency rating: 5

    There were no issues with consistency. Standard industry terminology was consistent throughout the text.

    Modularity rating: 5

    The book makes itself available in a modular approach. An example of this may be that an instructor may decide to only discuss the data-link and network layers when covering traditional layer 2 and 3 routing and switching.

    Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

    The text covered the topics in logical, clear fashion. As I mentioned earlier, the order in which the topics are presented differ from other texts commonly used for this topic, but I do not see that as a detriment, but more a benefit to a more technically proficient student body.

    Interface rating: 5

    The interface of the book is adequate. I saw no issues with the current structure.

    Grammatical Errors rating: 5

    I found the book to grammatically sound.

    Cultural Relevance rating: 5

    There are no issues related to cultural relevance with this text.

    Comments

    I enjoyed reviewing this text. I feel Dr. Bonaventure put together a well written textbook and I appreciate his approach in reorganizing topics based on a changing audience. I would recommend this book as a solid textbook for an introductory/intermediate networking class.

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