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Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

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Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#121

Post by tezza »

I found this very confusing.

I see you are going for the Thing Explainer style a la XKCD. That only works for a subset of learners.

A major hurdle is that you jump right in to “imaginary devices”. And these imaginary devices are rolling marbles of all things.

Perhaps a better way would be a historical look at how communication evolved. Smoke Signals, Flags on Ships, Telegraph, Radio, Switching Telephone, Packet Telephones

These are concrete things people can see and grok.

See “Don’t make me think” book. The essence is that “imaginary devices” is super effortful for the reader and hampers the gradual learning for beginners to acquire the knowledge

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#123

Post by imdsm »

yarinr wrote: post #113
imdsm wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like an enjoyable read. Could you share the ISBN or link? Thanks

https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...

Thanks. Seems there is a second edition due October 26, 2022.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Sof...

I feel tempted to buy the current edition, but also to wait for the second.

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#124

Post by rmbyrro »

zaargy wrote: post #122

What a strange world. 621 points on Hacker News but the thing doesnt actually exist. I'm thinking about submitting a new post soon 'Show HN: I am writing An effective micro transaction platform to eliminate ads from the internet.'.

The idea and few samples exist. If you can communicate it well enough, people actually have the ability to anticipate - at least partly - how it'll look like when it's done.

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#125

Post by cainxinth »

zaargy wrote: post #122

What a strange world. 621 points on Hacker News but the thing doesnt actually exist. I'm thinking about submitting a new post soon 'Show HN: I am writing An effective micro transaction platform to eliminate ads from the internet.'.

Someone shared the first three chapters of a free book they are writing, and a community liked it. Yet somehow this bothers you?

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#127

Post by underdeserver »

dragontamer wrote: post #46

I feel like walkie talkies are something all network engineers need to play with. Furthermore, remember that real world telephone and radio networks were in fact... Networks. (Called 'nets' in the radio world) Ethernet, and 802.11, are both based on the concept of a singular channel shared by many individuals. When Alice talks, she says 'I'm Alice calling Bob, can you hear me Over'. Alice is the source address. Bob i…

To nitpick a bit, both Ethernet and Wi-Fi frames start with the destination address, so it's more like "Bob? This is Alice, can you read me, over".

That way Dave knows to ignore the message if it doesn't start with his name (or "Everyone?" for broadcasts).

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#129

Post by blowski »

imdsm wrote: post #123
yarinr wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...

Thanks. Seems there is a second edition due October 26, 2022. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Sof... I feel tempted to buy the current edition, but also to wait for the second.

Oh that's brilliant, I'm looking forward to that!

There is still so much of the tech stack that hasn't changed since this book was published in 2000 - TCP, IP, DNS, binary, logic gates, etc. But there's also much that has changed that could be written about - virtualisation, containers, wifi, fibre, cloud infrastructure, USB, GPUs.

Re: Show HN: I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch

#130

Post by imdsm »

blowski wrote: post #129
imdsm wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. Seems there is a second edition due October 26, 2022. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Sof... I feel tempted to buy the current edition, but also to wait for the second.

Oh that's brilliant, I'm looking forward to that! There is still so much of the tech stack that hasn't changed since this book was published in 2000 - TCP, IP, DNS, binary, logic gates, etc. But there's also much that has changed that could be written about - virtualisation, containers, wifi, fibre, cloud infrastructure, USB, GPUs.

I've gone ahead and bought the first edition, and then when the other is out, I'll add that to my collection too. Looking forward to reading it. No matter how much I learn, I find going over the basics again, reading introductions again, really helps to keep everything active up there. Let's face it, we learn so much but we also seem to lose so much as well.
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