RTA's Blog
For Book Worms
Jan
Many of you know that I am an author. I’d always thought I’d like to be Tom Clancy, the famous (and very rich) author of many political and war thrillers. Not so much anymore since he died in 2013. I’m very happy to NOT be him, right now.
When I started studying OPC UA way back in 2007 or so, I was desperate for information. I found two books that I thought would help, the infamous OPC UA red book and the even more infamous green book. I found them extremely detailed and not adequate for someone that just wanted a good overview of the technology. Being the frustrated writer that I am, I figured I could do better than the green or red books so I wrote a little black book to give a quick introduction to OPC UA for people like me. It wasn’t very detailed and in a few places mischaracterized the technology (to be very honest with you).
As time went on, I noticed that there wasn’t a really good source for a more detailed treatment of the subject that didn’t overwhelm the reader. So, to continue the color sequencing of OPC UA books, I choose to make it blue. It’s now the blue book of OPC UA.
I’ll tell you that I’m actually pretty proud of this book. It’s far better than anything I’ve written on Modbus, EtherNet/IP, ProfiNet IO, or DeviceNet. It’s organized well and gives the reader what they need to know about OPC UA without losing them in the details. In fact, the book organizes the technical topics in such a way that the reader can choose to read just a quick overview of a topic, the concepts you need to know about that topic, or the full details.
I’ve been happy with the reception I’ve received so far, and if you choose to get any one of them I think you’ll be pleased you did. Here are the links to get these books:
“Modbus – The Everyman’s Guide to Modbus”
I also wrote a book that’s an overview of Industrial Ethernet, called The Industrial Ethernet Book. You can get all the books on Amazon by clicking on the image or links above. What’s interesting about books is that books are one of the top gifts that people buy as presents. Apparently, many people don’t want to read a book themselves but they think that others should. I’d be honored if you bought one of my books but I’d probably discourage you from giving one to your spouse. You and I might think it’s a good idea but these books aren’t necessarily romantic.
If you do choose one, please contact me. I’d love to know what you think. And one more thing: please promise me that you’ll go on Amazon and write a review for me. I’d really appreciate it.
John
