Jason's Bookstore

I noticed (*) the other day that Amazon.com has an "Associates Program" via which they will operate the back-end of a book store for anyone. This seems like a phenominally cool idea to me, so I applied on the spot. Through the links I've made here, you can buy books from Amazon.Com at their usually great prices and I get a commission on the referral.

OK, so it's not really the commissions I'm after -- but I think this is a tremendous convenience once I convince you that you really, really need to read one of these. And the prices are really quite good. Their cheapest shipping option, as of 5/13/97, was about $4 for the first book and $1 for each additional book in a shipment. That's usually still cheaper than going to Stacey's and buying with a "Literary License" (10% discount). And for those of you in Arkansas, this is probably as good a way as any of buying most of these.

For the time being, I've just listed a few. The list will grow as I get time and motivation:

(Oh, and I'm supposed to say I'm doing this "In association with Amazon.Com Books" and link the phrase to the linked-to form letter from their president.)

Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier
Click here to buy Applied Cryptography
This is definitely the best Crypto book I have yet to see, and well worth the price. Last time I checked, Amazon.Com had it on their 40% off list, which is an even better deal. This is an encyclopaedic reference and well-written textbook (without the annoying questions at the end of each chapter). As an added plus, it'll probably be illegal someday (and already is illegal in France and Russia, as I understand).

The Mythical Man Month by Fred P. Brooks
Click here to buy The Mythical Man-Month
The epic saga of the IBM System 360 OS, and a seminal work of software engineering. Most of his observations are as valid for modern programming projects as they were back then. On the other hand, many of his proposed solutions wouldn't work. Still very worthwhile reading for anyone involved in multi-programmer projects.


Programming Perl by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal L. Schwartz
Click here to buy Programming Perl
Perl is great, and this is the greatest of the Perl books. Don't process text, write CGI, or administer Unix without it!


(*) Actually, I didn't just notice the Associates program, but rather Dylan mentioned it to me. See, Dylan, I got my site up right away!