Networking is one of the most exciting and important fields in computer science. We now take it for granted that we can send video or photos to our friends via our mobile phones; search the web in milliseconds for the nearest Thai restaurant; or even hold a videoconference across continents in real time, but few understand the underlying technologies which make all this possible.

In The Art of Computer Networking Russell Bradford takes you on a hands-on tour of the most important aspects of networking. By staying sharply focused and avoiding unnecessary peripheral detail, he provides you with a solid foundation to take your skills and studies to an advanced level. He strongly encourages 'learning by doing' and the book is full of practical exercises so you can go out and try your hand at implementing the concepts presented. Progressing step-by-step from the hardware on upwards the reader is led assuredly through the less familiar low-level details towards the applications that they see and use every day.