It has been a long time since I encountered a book so turgid and styleless that I couldn’t finish it. This is such a book. I tried to read the book three different times, but was unable to get past the first overview chapter. This may have been because I was feeling overwhelmed by the C code used in the book, but the code is so arcane and filled with jargon, abbreviations, and notational devices that, in spite of its title, the book can hardly be called a tutorial. Rather, the book looks like an introductory programmer’s manual for the Network Computing System (NCS). The NCS is presented as though it had a large industry following, but in truth the book makes it appear to be a Hewlett-Packard proprietary system.

After the first chapter, the book dives into a detailed description of the operating system, given in C. It is only slightly higher level than having the material presented using assembly language.

The book will have interest only for a dedicated C programmer who has to deal with the NCS. Even so, the book states that it is a supplement to, not a substitute for, the NCS Reference Manual. I do not recommend the book.