B211 Internet Computing

Unit Readings

Required Readings

Textbook:

Web Programming: Building Internet Applications, Chris Bates, Wiley, 2000 - available in the University Bookshop.
Some sample code for this textbook (not all) can be found at the author's web site.

B211 Unit Reader.

Available in the University Bookshop. External students will be posted a copy in the first week of semester.

Online news on Internet developments:

The IT section of the Australian newspaper.

Optional Recommended Readings and Other References

Books:

Internet Secrets (2nd Edition) by John R. Levine, IDG Book, 2000
Last year's B211 textbook. Some chapters are available in the Unit Reader. Book available in the library. Still contains a lot of relevant material.

In-line/On-line: Fundamentals of the Internet and the World Wide Web, Raymond Greenlaw and Ellen Hepp, MsGraw-Hill, 1999.
Covers things from basic usage of the Internet and the WWW, to some technical details about how the Internet works.

Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web (Visual Quickstart Guide) by Elizabeth Castro, Peachpit Press, 1999
Simple, easy to read book on writing CGI scripts using Perl, with lots of screen-dumps to help you along. Cheap too. Good for start-up programmers to use, but someone looking for more Perl and CGI instructions (beyond this unit) will find it very limiting.

Programming Perl (3rd Edition) by Larry Wall et al, O'Reilly, 2000
W ritten by the original creator of Perl. Definitive and very complete book on general Perl programming, but do not cover the Perl CGI modules which we use in this unit.

Learning Perl (2nd Edition) by Randal L. Schwartz et al, O'Reilly, 1997
Not as complete as Larry Wall's book, but easier and still quite extensive and written by a recognized guru. More appropriate for a start-up Perl programmer to read.

Online news on Internet developments:

NOIE's Information Economy Digest.

UNESCO Observatory on the Information Economy weekly news briefs.

internetnews.com - more concentrated on company-based product-type news, rather than all aspects of Internet issues.

Relevant Online References:

NOIE's Current State of Play reports - statistics on the current state of Internet and IT. developments in Australia.

Documentation at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network).

Technical specifications at W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium).

Internet magazines at newsagents:

Mostly junk! But I'm happy to recommend the following:

Web Techniques - may be a bit beyond the level of this unit, but an excellent technical publication dealing with web developers technologies and issues. Good for final-year Computer Science students and above.

Wired Magazine - Covering the whole gamut of issues about the online world, from technological to social to economical to political to .... You get the idea.

General Internet sites:

CNET - IT news, product reviews, articles, downloads, etc.

ZDNet - IT news, product reviews, articles, downloads, etc.

Webopedia - online dictionary to look-up Internet related words and jargon, with links to relevant sites.

About.com - human-compiled descriptions about different subjects (including Internet technologies), and links to key sites. Some of the information is a bit dated now.

W3Schools Online Web Tutorials - web developers' tutorials.

Web Developers' Virtual Library - web developers' tutorials.

Webmonkey - web developers' tutorials.

RFC1983 Internet Users' Glossary - an official document of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Information on Internet access at Murdoch University.

...too many to list comprehensively!!!

Notes:

I can't even begin to claim that the recommended list above is complete. They are the most appropriate material as far as I am aware. I am sure in your travels you will come across good reference sources (especially online) not on the list. If you do, then post it on the discussion forum and I will have a look. If they fit very well with the unit objectives and is good (in my opinion), I will add it to this list.

The textbook and the Unit Reader is available from the University Bookshop at the South Street campus. For buying other computer books, the best two places in Perth (where I regularly scan for new titles) are:

BOFFINS BOOKSHOP
806 Hay St
Perth

RELLIM BOOKSELLERS PTY LTD
834 Hay St
Perth

The standard place to look online is obviously Amazon.com. You can also review the books at the original publishers sites, such as O'Reilly.

You should always have a careful look at the book contents before buying. I recommend the books because they cover the unit material and in my opinion are well-written for the level of 2nd-year undergraduates. But what I find well-written, you may find indecipherable. Have a look at the books before you buy them. I'm also happy for any student to see me in my office and have a look at my collection.

H.L. Hiew
Unit Coordinator