Why Is This Book Unique?

If you're a programmer, too many of the programming books you've read have probably not been much fun at all. In fact, many of them are grim slogs.

Not this one. This is designed to be the computer book for the rest of us who just want to kick back and get a little enjoyment out of what we do everyday.

That's not to say that the programs you're going to find here aren't powerful and that you can't learn some interesting techniques from themyou can. There's all kinds of cool stuff in here, from creating a multithreaded hockey game to an online chat room, from an Internet-based intercom to a temperature forecaster that draws JPEG images online and sends them to browsers.

There's a lot packed in here, and as the book's author, my hope is that at least some of it will make you take a second look and say, "Cool!"