Jargon : An Informal Dictionary of Computer Terms Book

In Robin Williams's words, "I wrote this book because I was frustrated with every computer dictionary and glossary I had collected. The explanations were usually so brief and they assumed I knew a host of other things. Jargon's purpose is to provide the beginning-to-average computer user with the full meaning of every important term in a way that's clear, complete, and non-stuffy. When I started work on Jargon, I scoped out a book of 160 pages; but eventually it grew to four times that size. As a teacher, I knew I wanted to provide longer, richer definitions than those cryptic little phrases you'd normally expect. Fortunately, Peachpit let me get carried away and create a computer dictionary that even my mother could enjoy."

Thumb through Jargon and you see definitions that are remarkably easy to find and to read (what a concept!). Rather than tiny lines of type packed in like sardines, the layout is clear and airy with plenty of white space. And to spare PC users from wasting time on Macintosh references (and vice versa), there are little PC and Mac icons in the margins by definitions specific to those platforms.

To enlighten readers and enliven Jargon even more, the book includes cartoons by John Grimes, whose humor has appeared in Ms. magazine, Utne Reader , SF Chronicle , and in his own book, Reality Check . Robin Williams's sister Shannon contributed a cross-word puzzle to see whether you've been paying attention. And Robin's daughter Scarlett, age 7, created a delightful font - cleverly named Scarlett - for chapter headings (available for a $5 shareware fee).

A book with hundreds of computer terms explained in such a way that the reader actually understands the word after reading the definition. Covers both the Macintosh and PC world, as well as peripheral terminology. Explains not only the technical definition of the word, but also the how and why of the word.