Coding Theory : A First Course

Rating:
Summary: Soft and pleasing intro to the (mathematical) coding theory
Review: A very soft introduction to coding theory. All the necessary information in finite field theory etc. are reminded of and short proves are also included. It is 25 years ago that I studied mathematics and it still was easy to follow. If you start from scratch you obviously have to invest some time to get a grasp of the mathematics before you can understand the application to coding.

After having read this book I finally know what this error messages of "Failed 312 cyclic redundancy checks" actually mean and why cyclic codes are used in physical networks (good burst correction properties).

If you want to dig deeper in the subject and you want to learn about nonlinear codes and more: than the authors tend to reference Neil J. A. Sloane, Florence Jessie MacWilliams "The Theory of Error-Correcting Codes".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction
Review: Pros:
1. Rephrases of theorems in more understandable words other than just mathematical terms.
2. Use of analogy is particularly helpful.
3. Very readable proofs -- just about the right amount of details.

Cons:
1. Too many trivial examples in the first chapter.