在我审查这本书之前，我从未听说过Head First系列书，所以我对这些书接近主题的方式感到非常惊讶。(Head First)我这辈子读过很多技术书籍，但从来没有这样的！
Head First Networking有什么其他网络书籍无法提供的？我认为您可以通过查看封面来获得一个想法，但即使是封面也无法对本书的其余部分做出公正的评价。让我们看看里面有什么！
一种新颖的方法
Head First Networking与该系列中的其他书籍一样，以异想天开的格式提供严肃的信息。有照片。有图纸。有图表和图形以及许多(graphs and lots)其他视觉元素引起了读者的注意。这本书以一种吸引读者的风格写成，既有趣又内容丰富。换句话说，它是专门为不乏味而设计的，让读者毫不费力地对学习产生兴趣。（我发现自己希望我在网络中使用的教科书(Networking)大学的课是这样写的。想想我还能学到多少东西！）网络是一个复杂的主题，我看到我分享的书籍似乎是专门为让人们入睡（或激励他们尽快将书带回图书馆）而设计的可能的）。Head First Networking绝对不是那种书。它把读者(reader right)拉进去，让学习所有这些东西变得容易，更重要的是，有趣。
让它变得容易
这本书不适合高级技术人员，也不适合不想学习任何新东西的人（这意味着它适合我们大多数人）。它旨在引导读者了解网络，从网络布局和布线的基础知识到您需要的硬件，再到无线网络和安全(wireless networking and security)等更高级的主题。作者详细解释了一切，而且通常以不止一种方式。由于不同的人以不同的方式学习，这种重复大大增加了本书成功的机会。
附录中简要提到了拓扑、TCP堆栈和VPN(VPNs)等内容，因为大多数人不需要了解此类内容即可设置和了解自己的家庭网络。（至少提到了这些东西，以便任何对高级术语(level terminology)感兴趣的人都可以得到一个简短的概述，然后更详细地探索这些主题。）
章节设置和功能
作者使用一系列虚构的公司来提供可能出错以及如何纠正错误的示例。Coconut Airways的电线很乱，Ghost Watch 电视节目(Ghost Watch TV show)需要在破旧的旧酒店设置设备，Mighty Gumball想在超级碗(Super Bowl)上销售其产品，等等。每一章(Every chapter)选取一个主题，通过现实世界的例子，让读者思考解决方案，并展示事情应该如何解决。还有一些游戏和谜题让事情变得更加有趣。可以肯定的是，这种方法并不适合所有人——我们中的一些人只是喜欢以简单的方式呈现我们的信息，以便我们可以继续使用它——但我认为这使得学习这些东西的过程变得很有趣。当你玩得开心时，学习是无痛的。各章末尾是“削铅笔”(Sharpen Your Pencil)测验、“学者角”(Scholar's Corner)（这里简要讨论了更高级的主题，“没有愚蠢的问题” ）(There Are No Dumb Questions)部分，解释了许多人想问的事情，以及本章中测验和谜题的答案。有很多照片，包括带有标题的老式照片和专门为这本书拍摄的照片。
看看，书上有
这本书不像其他技术书籍，您可以打开任何页面并挑选出您需要的信息。它的设计目的是通读一遍，从头到尾，读者应该做练习。作者在使这种直通式阅读具有吸引力方面做得非常出色。他们不依赖任何一种方法来保持读者的参与。他们解释了他们为什么要做他们正在做的事情，并且他们不会通过强迫幽默占据空间来侮辱读者的智力。他们想要教书，而且他们清楚地相信读者想要学习。这是一本我真的很想从头到尾读完的书，对我来说，它是一本守护者。这篇评论与我写的其他评论不同，因为这本书与我读过的其他评论不同。(Head First Networking)读起来很有趣，但很难描述。我绝对可以推荐，如果你想学习网络，你可以去看看这本书。
判决
说什么？(Say what?)对于这么棒的书，你不应该直接跑出去买吗？嗯(Well)，没有。不是没有先好好看看这本书。它与大多数其他技术指导书籍完全不同，并且这种方法可能需要一些时间来适应。作者试图尽可能多地吸引不同的人（具有不同的学习偏好），但这并不意味着他们会一针见血。看看这个预览(preview)，看看你的想法，或者从图书馆得到它，这样你就可以在闲暇时浏览它，或者至少在书店里(book store)翻阅它。我敢打赌，你们中的大多数人会在将他们的副本还给图书馆之前很久就购买自己的副本。
Book Review - Head First Networking
I had never heard of the Head First series of books before I got this one to review, so I was really surprised by the way these books approach their subjects. I've read a lot of technical books in my lifetime, but never one like this!
What is it that Head First Networking does that no other networking book can offer? I think you can get an idea by looking at the cover, but even the cover doesn't do justice to the rest of the book. Let's see what waits inside!
A novel approach
Head First Networking, like the other books in the series, offers serious information in a whimsical format. There are photographs. There are drawings. There are charts and graphs and lots of other visual elements that catch the reader's attention. The book is written to be both entertaining and informative, in a style that engages the reader. In other words, it's specifically designed not to be boring, and to get the reader interested in learning, effortlessly. (I found myself wishing that the textbook I used in my Networking class in college had been written like this. Think how much more I would have learned!) Networking is a complex subject, and I've seen my share of books that seem specifically designed to put people to sleep (or inspire them to take the book right back to the library as soon as possible). Head First Networking is definitely not that kind of a book. It pulls the reader right in and makes learning all these things easy, and more important, fun.
Making it easy
This book is not for high-level techies and it's not for people who don't want to learn anything new (which means that it's for most of us). It's designed to walk the reader through networking from the basics of laying out and wiring a network, through the hardware you'll need, to more advanced topics like wireless networking and security. The authors explain everything in detail, and usually in more than one way. Since different people learn in different ways, having this kind of repetition vastly increases the book's chances of success.
Things like topology, TCP stacks and VPNs are briefly mentioned in an appendix, since most people don't need to know about things like that to set up and understand their own home networks. (At least those things are mentioned, so that anyone interested in higher level terminology can get a brief overview and then explore those subjects in more detail.)
Chapter setup and features
The authors use a series of fictitious companies to provide examples of what can go wrong and how to make it right. Coconut Airways' wires are a mess, the Ghost Watch TV show needs to set up its equipment in a ratty old hotel, Mighty Gumball wants to sell its products at the Super Bowl, and so on. Every chapter takes a topic, works through real-world examples, asks the reader to think about the solutions, and shows how things are supposed to work out. There are also games and puzzles to make things even more interesting. The approach is not for everyone, to be sure—some of us just like our information presented in a straightforward manner so we can get on with it—but I think this makes the process of learning these things a lot of fun. And when you're having fun, learning is painless. At the end of the chapters are the Sharpen Your Pencil quizzes, the Scholar's Corner (where more advanced subjects are briefly discussed, the There Are No Dumb Questions section, where the things many people want to ask about are explained, and the answers to the quizzes and puzzles in the chapter. There are plenty of photographs, including vintage pictures with captions and photos taken specifically for the book.
Take a look, it's in the book
This book is not like other technical books where you can just open up to any page and pick out the information you need. It's designed to be read straight through, cover to cover, and the reader is expected to do the exercises. The authors have done an outstanding job of making this straight-through reading appealing. They don't rely on any one approach to keep the reader engaged. They explain why they're doing what they're doing, and they don't insult the readers' intelligence by taking up space with forced humor. They want to teach, and they clearly believe that the reader wants to learn. It was a book I really did want to read from cover to cover, and for me, it's a keeper. This review is not like the others I've written because this book is not like the others I've read. Head First Networking is fun to read but difficult to describe. I can definitely recommend that if you want to learn networking, you go get your hands on this book.
Verdict
Say what? For a book this terrific, shouldn't you just run right out and buy it? Well, no. Not without first taking a good look inside the book. It's completely different from most other technical-instruction books and the approach may take some getting used to. The authors try to appeal to as many different people (with different learning preferences) as they possibly can, but that doesn't mean they'll hit the nail on the head for everyone. Check out this preview and see what you think, or get it from the library so you can browse through it at your leisure, or at least leaf through it in the book store. I'm betting that most of you will buy your own copy long before it comes time to give the library their copy back.
