If you're a diehard techie, TCP/IP is probably an exciting topic. For people who are not techies but need to learn TCP/IP basics anyway, there's the wonderful TCP/IP For Dummies. Leiden and Wilensky tackle their subject matter with the irreverence characteristic of the Dummies series. They toss technical gobbledygook out the window in favor of plain English and apply a healthy dose of humor to make the learning fun.

The first of the book's four sections explains the background of TCP/IP and its relationship to the Internet and provides general information on networking and network terminology. Part 2 details TCP/IP itself, covering the components, how to make Net connections, how to share files, e-mail, and more. The third part looks at important related issues: system security, the fine points of system names and addresses, and tips on which hardware will make your system work as you want it to. The final section is the traditional Dummies series "Part of Tens," where the authors give you assorted lists of 10. Some are informative, such as the lists of top 10 online documents pertaining to the Internet, top 10 documents pertaining specifically to TCP/IP, and the list of 10 most frequently asked questions about TCP/IP. Other lists are more for entertainment, such as the lists of 10 strange but real TCP/IP network devices and 10 synonyms for the Internet.

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