Backdate your computer knowledge

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Book:		Fonts & Encodings
Subject:		Backdate your computer knowledge
Date:		2007-10-12 17:48:54
From:		B Kiefer

Rating: I've learned quite a lot about "the way things are" in computing by reading the first 50 pages of this entertaining book. Haramlambous' work is translated by P. Scott Horne. I'm not sure what language the original work is in, but this is a very readable book that covers the fundamental tryst between fonts and encodings. Encodings help us understand characters while fonts make those characters familiar glyphs (letters and symbols). Haramlambous has shed light on every corner of this problem. He starts with a refresher in type setting and a primer in the language of fonts. From there, he discusses the history of encodings including an illustrative expose comparing the punchcard and EBCDIC and how they share the same encoding scheme. As a first edition, there are plenty of errata issues that need to be addressed, but this massive tome will be a long-lived reference in my library.