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Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms
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Author: Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Maarten van Steen
List Price: $88.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0130888931
Publisher: Prentice Hall (15 January, 2002)
Edition: Hardcover
Sales Rank: 95,832
Average Customer Rating: 4 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 5 out of 5
Great book, but poor choice of cover art
Chapters 1 through 4 are a great introduction to Distributed Systems, in the case you have had less than optimal training on the subject in the past - I read these chapters at the beginning of a recent Distributed Systems graduate course since this was the situation I was in. Chapters 5 through 7, which were the main concentration in the course, are also the heart of the text: Synchronization, Consistency and Replication, and Fault Tolerance. The authors write very well, and the diagrams are among the best I have seen, especially if you think visually like me. In my opinion, some of the explanations are drawn out a bit much, or worded in a strange way, but this does not take away from the text's substance. What does subtract from my high opinion of the book is the cover art, which makes it look like a book one would read in grade school. At least one professor in the graduate school I am attending is not interested in using the text for his DS courses for that very reason.
Rating: 3 out of 5
You must be a serious student to finish this book
I acquired this book after reading Tanenbaum's excellent "Modern Operating Systems, 2nd ed." While I enjoyed that book, I couldn't finish "Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms." Those without a programming background and a serious need to learn distributed design principles won't finish either.
"Distributed Systems" doesn't engage the reader as "Modern Operating Systems" does. While important topics like communication, processes, naming, synchronization, etc. are given full chapter coverage, discussion within some chapters fall short. For example, why introduce the concept of "little" and "big endian" on pages 74 and 75, but not adequately explain what those terms mean? My favorite aspects of "Distributed Systems" were the chapter summaries. I could almost have had my interests satisfied by reading these concise descriptions of key computing ideas. If you don't need this book in the classroom, you'll probably be happy reading the summaries, too.
Rating: 2 out of 5
A rather painful experience
Some people like Tanenbaum's writing style. Other people find his work tedious and boring.I belong to the latter group. Most of the book is just waffle... he explains neither the general principles nor the implementation specifics in great detail, but instead spends 10 pages explaining the obvious, follows that with a page with good technical information, then a page of insightful commentary, but then continues again with another 10 pages of pointless chatter. Some chapters provide practical information, but it is clearly aimed at the university student -- and has all the excitement of a monotonous lecturer. If you're after a to-the-point summary, try something else.
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