Systems Approach

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Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie write books and newsletters about the Internet and related computer systems topics.
websitehttps://www.systemsapproach.org/books/
newsletterhttps://systemsapproach.org/newsletter
GitHubhttps://github.com/SystemsApproach
tech raghttps://www.theregister.com/Tag/Systems%20Approach

Here are two images by the two authors representing different views of the naming issues:

2/n

QUIC is defined in four RFCs spanning a few hundred pages, so making sense of that for textbook length coverage is no small task. But that's what we're willing to do for the devoted readers of our books.

There's a disconcerting (for old school types) lack of packet headers in the QUIC specs, where textual representation of packet headers has been used. We decided to make some packet header pictures anyway.

We hope the person who gave us a one-star review entitled "Wall of Text" appreciates the effort.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1IVEX207N7WY8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B004VF6216

(For comparison, here is the same header as described in the spec:

Long Header Packet {
Header Form (1) = 1,
Fixed Bit (1) = 1,
Long Packet Type (2),
Type-Specific Bits (4),
Version (32),
Destination Connection ID Length (8),
Destination Connection ID Length (8),
Destination Connection ID (0..160),
Source Connection ID Length (8),
Source Connection ID (0..160),
Type-Specific Payload (..),
}
3/n

Engineers are not always the biggest fans of architects, as was demonstrated in Bruce's undergraduate engineering class, in which a lecturer used the example of the Sydney opera house to show his disdain for architects. On the left, a stylized rendition of said opera house; on the right, the alleged architect's solution to build it: a skyhook. 2/n
The first print copy of our new book has arrived at the Systems Approach southern campus, with Ingram beating Amazon in the print-on-demand speed test.
Now available from Amazon (and will soon be available from independent booksellers)
https://amzn.to/4p5CUqH

Front cover in more detail:

Cover photo by Ziggy Stone on unsplash https://unsplash.com/@pacnw

Happy submitting a book for publication day to us!
While we've been jetting around to SIGCOMM and collecting photos of Portuguese bridges, we still managed to get a newsletter out the door. This one is an introduction to our latest book, an essay collection that compiles our favorite pieces on applications of the systems approach from the last four years:
https://systemsapproach.org/2025/09/22/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-systems/
Meanwhile, here's another bridge (over the Douro river).
Another bridge for the collection. This one is in Lisbon and appears to be the same “international orange” as the Golden Gate
A bridge in the Douro Valley 📷 @Drbruced