This book is about Information Technology (Systems). Information Technology because is the stuff from which Information Technology (Systems) are made. The term "system" places the phrase "information technology" in a certain context. In effect the term "system" organizes information technology in such a way to carry out specific goals with information technology. To understand Information Technology Systems, one must understand the information technologies that make up those systems. This book will focus on what is important about Information Technology Systems in a concise well focused manner. Today, many books have achieved the notable classification of "bloat-ware." Bloat-ware as it is applied to software refers to software that is far too complex for its purpose. Of the total number of features and aspects of any complex piece of software a person may use, on a regular basis, about 20% of the features of that software. What about all of the "other stuff?" It may be used sometimes but the reality is that such features are not used often. The inclusion of every possible feature under the sun in a piece of software causes that software to be classified as bloat-ware. It is my belief that book authors and publishers wish to achieve the same result - to produce all inclusive textbooks on particular topics. The result are books that include far more than they need to to describe any particular subject. Rather then a book that tries to include every facet about Information Technology, it is my intention to take the "Dragnet" approach in this particular book. Those of us who remember this show, remember that one of the signature statements of one of the detectives was "Just the facts ..." The detective wasn't interested in every little bit of information. They were interested in the relevant information that would help them solve a particular case. This book is just about the facts as they apply to Information Technology Systems. Many books about information technology systems contain case studies to help the reader understand the concepts that are being presented. This book will not include any case studies. Case studies, although sometimes instructional are far too costly to include in textbooks. They tend to go out of date quickly and therefore must be updated frequently. Furthermore the scope of a case study as it evolves may become unwieldy thus making it necessary to edit the study. What is chosen to edit out of the case study may be an important aspect to some readers while not important to others. How can these decisions be made? A more practical approach is to include case studies by referral (if necessary) and not as part of the actual textbook. Textbooks are excellent for information that does not change whereas they are an extremely poor medium for aspects of information that change often. Specific technologies might change often and frequently within information technology but the classes of those technologies do not tend to change as often and therefore have a place in a textbook. This book will differ from others in that it will contain "the facts, and only the facts." Anything else, the reader can follow up themselves.
About the Author: Dr. Randy M. Kaplan has been working in the fields of computer science and information technology for the past 44 years. Beginning as a programmer on large computer systems in the 1960's his career continued along a typical trajectory - programmer, systems analyst, supervisor, manager. He created one of the first distributed and integrated laboratory management systems for a large pharmaceutical company. While he was working at the pharmaceutical company he pursued a Master's Degree in Computer Science, and then a Ph.D. in Computer Science working on one of the "Holy Grail" problems in natural language understanding and artificial intelligence. He went on to work for various companies arriving at Educational Testing Service (in Princeton New Jersey) where he developed intelligent tutoring systems and also the first practical automated essay scoring system which has several patents associated with it. All through his career he has been a teacher in computer science, teaching at several of the most well known universities in the country including Drexel University and Villanova University. His teaching in computer science has overlapped his professional and research work throughout his career. Dr. Kaplan has published many papers in computer science with presentations in France, and Spain, and throughout the United States. He has also published two books in the field. He is a consummate teacher, concerned for his students gaining a quality and effective understanding of computer science and information technology. This book is the first of what he hopes will be a series that will change the tide of behemoth expensive textbooks in computer science by providing core concepts in a readable concise format. Students can no longer afford to pay $150 or more for a textbook. Dr. Kaplan hopes to provide the core concepts of topics within computer science for students. If people didn't know any better they might say that my blood consists of chips and diodes, transistors and resistors. I was breathing, eating, tinkering, and manipulating computers long before many youngsters today. You see I began my trek when I was approximately 10 years old. The would put my beginning with computers in the ripe old year of 1965. That's right. Computers were only about 15 years old by then, just a little older than myself, and so most of the people using computers were, as they say, my elders.