At first sight, this book seems not to be for computer professionals. It is about making your own communications cables, test equipment, and software support programs and saving the normal purchase price. It represents the hard-won experience of two veterans with years of experience, however, and provides valuable summaries of such things as the RS-232 standard and symbols for cable schematics. On the whole, the material is presented clearly and attractively.

Again, at first sight, the claims about saving money may seem bizarre, because the authors make no allowance for the construction time involved. But in these times of depression in many university and other laboratories, with staff paid for but with little money for equipment purchases, building one’s own accessories may actually make economic sense.