Power Programming with RPC

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Summary: The value of this work depends on you
Review: As with any book the value you get out of it depends on what you already know or can extrapolate. The book has a clearly defined target audience is assumed to have some knowledge of the C programming language and UNIX. For those not familiar with IPC there are some added chapters. Some exposure to the X windows system is expected.

An RPC system is a collection of software necessary to support remote procedure call programming and the necessary run time services.

This book can carry you thro from the concepts to the practical. As with any universal book there will be many variations of environment that are not anticipated. However using system specific references and your unique environment information combined with this book should result in practical applications in less time than trying to set up from the RFC's.

I suggest you take in the information in small chunks and try the examples before moving on. There are plenty of diagrams to help you with the theory.

The Bottom line of RPC is to save big bucks by allowing the end user access to the computing power of the network systems at minimal cost.

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Summary: Old and in need of Update
Review: I feel that this book needs to be updated. It makes so many statements that even a newbie such as I can tell are outdated, that the entire content of the book is cast into doubt. How can I tell whether or not I should believe any given sentence? I find myself in the position of needing to independently verify almost every statement, and who has time for that? I came here hoping for a newer edition that I could feel more confident about, and am very disappointed not to find one. Judging from other references (e.g. the Solaris 8 "ONC+ Reference Manual," at docs.sun.com -- on the topic of using RPC with threads, for example), the technology has changed over the last 12 years, to the point where I for one don't trust this book.

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Summary: Hope you're already an expert
Review: I had to read this book as part of a Client/Server class and believe me, this book sucks unless you already have two or three years experience with networking. This book IS NOT for the student or anyone new to networking.

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Summary: Worst O'Reilly book I have.
Review: O'Reilly generally distributes well written, easy to understand books. This is not one of them. The author seems to go to great lengths to make the implementation of RPC's hard to understand. For example, he never seems to plainly describe the sequence of events required to register a server and a client. Instead he requires the user to rely on the rpcgen utility which is OK if you have a simple requirement. However, most people who use RPC's use them because their requirements are NOT simple. Further, if the reader wants to learn more about the RPC procedure he/she must filter out Mr. Bloomers' convoluted 'C' code. In his very first example (downloaded from the O'Reilly web site), Mr. Bloomer forces the reader to muddle through code like: "char *result; char *(*local)(); local = (char *(*)()) add_record; result = (*local)(&argument, rqstp); " without any explanation of what he is trying to accomplish. I wish I could get my money back from O'Reilly on this one.

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Summary: Excellent fountain of RPC knowhow
Review: The book fills a gap in RPC knowhow, that was much needed in the market place. It is in my humble opinion an excellent text on ONC RPC for UNIX (principally Solaris, but doesnt seem to be limited in any way). I did not find any PC specific solutions, but if one uses ONC RPC the XDR message format should ensure cross platform portability IMHO. I have only encountered one other good source on this subject, but I will not do Mr Bloomer a disservice by mentioning that book here .The author has made a sizeable investment of energy in trying to explain a complex and intricate RPC paradigm. The book gives examples of how to do both simple and some of the more complex things with rpc. I was particularly grateful for the author putting in examples and explanations of how to integrate with event-loops of GUIs, and to also how to do i/o multiplexing in a single threaded application. This book helped me tremendously during intricate debugging sessions to understand some of my problems. I have nothing but praise for the authors efforts. I salute you sir....

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Summary: I would not recommend this book for RPC beginners
Review: The presentation is very informal and brief. It is very hard for a beginner to have a clear picture of RPC by reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: good reference
Review: This is a decent book. Its a reference book, so reading it for pleasure might not exactly work. But if you want to know how to use RPC - this is the book for you. It answered all my questions and was an valuable reference.

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Summary: A complete guide to RPC
Review: This is a very good reference book for anyone who wants to know how to use the power of RPC. It covers every little detail and explains some very useful tips that can't be found any where else. Ofcourse the author has assumed a fair knowledge of networking and C but you can't blame him for that 'cos anyone who attempts to use RPC wont be able to do that without the knowledge of these two.

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Summary: All you need to fully understand the details of RPC
Review: This is imho the reference for RPC.

This book keeps the usual high standard for O'Reilly nutshell books. Yes, this should be seen more as a reference than as an introduction or beginners book, though it covers all important topics and pitfalls to avoid.

If you want the best reference and most comprehensive explanation on RPC and how to use it, this is the book to get.

Danger: As with all of the better O'Reilly "reference/nutshell" books: it may not be very easy to read. The book assumes a fair good understanding of networking and protocol issues. I think someone looking for a introduction or beginners guide will be very dissapointed. This is what makes O'Reilly nutshell books good, they fill the sorely lacking area of deep and detailed books covering all gory detail but does not spend a lot(read: anything at all) of space for the beginner. You will have to think quite a lot to understand it and reading it from cover to cover WILL take a lot of time. If you are aware of this and wants a comprehensive book which goes through everything, this is the one to get.

It is easier to read than RFC1050 and does explain some very very tricky concepts/areas which the RFC just assumes are obvious or assumes you should figure out yourself.

I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: bloody awful
Review: This is possibly the worst pile of trash I have EVER read in my life. Please don't buy this complete pile of rubbish. In fact I think I'm going to wipe my backside with it.