The object of this book is to cover most of the currently relevant areas of data communications and networks. These include:  Communications protocols (especially TCP/IP) Networking (especially in Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, FDDI and ATM) Networking operating systems (especially in Windows NT, Novell NetWare and UNIX) Communications programs (especially in serial communications, parallel communications and TCP/IP) Computer hardware (especially in PC hardware, serial communications and parallel communication) The book thus splits into 15 different areas, these are:  General data compression (Chapters 2 and 3) Video, images and sound (Chapters 4-11 ) Error coding and encryption (Chapters 12-17) TCP/IP, WWW, Internets and Intranets (Chapters 18-20 and 23) Electronic Mail (Chapter 21 ) HTML (Chapters 25 and 26) Java (Chapters 27-29) Communication Programs (Chapters 20, 29 and 49) Network Operating Systems (Chapters 31-34) LANs/WANs (Chapters 35, 38-46) Serial Communications (Chapters 47 and 48) Parallel Communications (Chapters 50-52) Local Communications (Chapters 53-57) Routing and Protocols (Chapters 36 and 37) Cables and connectors (Chapters 58--60) Many handbooks and reference guides on the market contain endless tables and mathematics, or are dry to read and contain very little insight in their subject area. I have tried to make this book readable, but also contain key information which can be used by professionals.