Networking Algorithmics is a weird one. I haven't looked much at the new edition, but back about ten years ago (yeesh) I kept tripping over the first edition of

Networking Algorithmics is a weird one. I haven't looked much at the new edition, but back about ten years ago (yeesh) I kept tripping over the first edition of that book by accident, and then referring to it. I never read it cover to cover. In what I feel is a decent test for a book, it was the best at explaining a few specific concepts that other books which were searchable using O'Reilly's online library barely touched on. I bet that might still be the case. When I needed a refresher for socket programming back in that same timeframe, I divided my time pretty evenly between Stevens, Beej, and Kerrisk. I get why people felt so much reverence for Stevens when it came out, but I also get why Beej's guide came about later on, as a more straightforward option. Kerrisk is just amazing, but I bet some would find it to be overkill. I suppose it aims to inhabit some of the space Stevens did, and it's undeniably a lot better.