Preface

Why does this textbook exist? At Northern Kentucky University, we have offered a 4-year bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Technology since 2004. This program, like the field, continues to evolve. In 2011, we added a breadth-first introductory course to our program. The course’s role is to introduce students to many of the concepts that they would see throughout their IT studies and into their career: computer organization and hardware, Windows and Linux operating systems, system administration duties, scripting, computer networks, regular expressions, binary numbers, the Bash shell in Linux and DOS, managing processes and services, computer security, and careers in IT.

As I was asked to develop this course, I began looking for a textbook. I realized quickly that this wide range of topics would not be found in any single book. My only options seemed to be to use several books or to utilize some type of computer literacy text. The problem with computer literacy text is that no such book covers the material in the detail we would require, nor would such a text offer a satisfactory introduction to Linux. The problem with requiring several texts is that the students would need at least three or four, and that was an expense that I did not want to burden our students with. As I already had some detailed notes on many of the topics, I took it upon myself to write the text. I did not realize the level of commitment that I was making, but once I had completed the text, I wanted to try to get it published. Fortunately for me, the wonderful folks at CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group wanted to publish it as well. I am very grateful that they have worked with me to turn my rough draft text into a presentable product.

In creating the publishable text, I reworked many of the chapters and figures (multiple times). Based on reviewer comments, I also added several additional sections and one new chapter. This allowed me to introduce many of the topics recommended by SIGITE (ACM Special Interest Group on IT Education). This book, however, is incomplete and will never be complete for two reasons. First, as the field grows and changes, any text will become quickly outdated. For instance, as I prepare this for press, Microsoft is preparing Windows 8 for release. At that point, will all of my references to Windows 7 be obsolete? Possibly, but hopefully not. Second, the field contains so many topics that I could literally double the length of this text and still not cover all of the material worth mentioning. However, I have to stop at some point, and I hope that I have hit on a wide variety of topics.

This book is suitable for any introductory IT course. It offers students a far more detailed examination of the computer than computer literacy texts, which are commonly used in such courses. Of particular note are the emphasis provided to Windows/DOS and Linux with numerous examples of issuing commands and controlling the operating systems. Topics in hardware, programming, and computer networks further flush out the details. Finally, the text covers concepts that any IT person will need to know from operating system and hardware to information security and computer ethics.