   Book for networking  novice
  Hi all,I'm looking to make a start in networking.  Never even touched it before, im a complete novice on the subject.I'm quite strong in C++ and in DirectX and I'm looking for a book to teach me how to network (preferably in c++) and then after that, how to use directX to do network gaming.  I've looked at the list of books on this site but none of the descriptions are all that clear so im looking for recommendations.What book should a networking novice get to start off with?  Thanks!   
  Stevens: TCP/IP Illustrated is pretty good.It's important to understand networking at a fairly comprehensive level, which include things like physical framing, ARP, DNS, NAT, etc. University networking textbooks would be useful, too. They may also talk about things like ATM, SONET, ISDN, etc, which is good to understand for a feel for how networking actually works.I would recommend against just getting a book that teaches WinSock/Berkeley Sockets, because that's just the API; it doesn't teach you what's going on underneat. That would be like learning SQL without understanding sorting, searching or relational algebra; it makes you make poor design and implementation choices.Finally, "using DirectX with networking" is no different from "using OpenGL with networking" or "using text with networking." There used to be an old networking API called DirectPlay, but it's been deprecated for a long time, and Microsoft suggests you use WinSock or a third-party libarary and on top of that.;  (1) Intro: Tannenbaum, A. "Computer Networks(2) Programming: Stevens, R. "Unix Network Programming"(3) And as noted before Stevens, R. "TCP/IP illustrated"Want to say as well that Richard Stevens is just beautiful author, all of his books are just amazing.   ;  cheers for the suggestions guys, like i say I am a complete novice when it comes to networking, cant believe i've done 4 years of games programming at uni and not once was any networking taught.  disappointing.Even most of the acronyms above are greek to me, I really do have to start completely at the beginning!   ;  If you want to start right from the beginning, the link in my signature will get you started. But, after that, the books the guys have suggested will help you advance even further.Good luck :)   