BKDCINTA.RVW   20010729

"Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms", Cisco Systems,
2001, 1-58720-045-7, U$12.95/C$19.95
%A   Cisco Systems, Inc. wblack@cisco.com
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   2001
%G   1-58720-045-7
%I   Cisco Press/Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$12.95/C$19.95 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com
%P   412 p.
%T   "Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms"

The first thing that strikes you is that the dictionary is very
complete.  It is certainly fatter than the free glossaries that
vendors used to throw around as giveaways.  So complete, that a lot of
minor variations on a theme are included.  However, while the terms
encompassed in the book do cover a wide range, a number of listings
are missing.  As an example, "Newton's Telecom Dictionary," (cf.
BKNTTLDC.RVW) has 142 records in "X," where the Cisco work has 31, and
most of the Newton explanations are considerably more informative. 
The preponderance of the entries in this volume are acronyms.

The entries are generally quite short, and frequently fail to explain
the phrase or technology under consideration.  Many acronyms are
merely expanded, with no attempt to define the resulting expression. 
There does not seem to be any standard as to whether a definition, if
it is provided, is given with the acronym or the expanded phrase.

There are cross-references, but very few, and many of them don't work. 
"24th channel signalling" points to "2G mobile network," but the
latter entry contains no reference at all to the former phrase.  This
example is far from being an isolated case.

That ActiveX is said to be a "superset" of Java would come as a
considerable surprise to both Microsoft and Sun, and, given the
radical differences in the two systems, to anyone who has the
slightest familiarity with both applet styles.

The entry for cookie defines what it is, but says nothing about use or
purpose.  The virus definition is technically correct, but is academic
and restrictive.  One entry says, in its entirety, "remote alarm
indication - yellow alarm."  A number of listings would have
benefitted from a slight review by someone more familiar with English:
one tells us that satellite communication has "a cost that is not
related to distance between earth stations, long bandwidth delays, or
broadcast capability."

Ultimately, this material is neither helpful nor reliable.  There are
many other, better, resources, such as Petersen (cf. BKDTTLDC.RVW),
Weik (cf. BKCMSTDC.RVW), Shnier (cf. BKCMPDCT.RVW), the aforementioned
Newton, Microsoft (cf. BKMSCMDC.RVW), and good old FED-STD-1037C (cf.
BKGLTLTM.RVW), which can even beat it on price.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001   BKDCINTA.RVW   20010729