Cryptography in C and C++: Amazon.ca: Michael Welschenbach: Books

Product Description

Cryptography in C and C++ mainly focuses on the practical aspects involved in implementing public key cryptography methods, such as the RSA algorithm that was recently released from patent protection. It also gives both a technical overview and an implementation of the Rijndael algorithm that was selected as the Advanced Encryption Standard by the U.S. government. Author Michael Welschenbach avoids complexities by explaining cryptography and its mathematical basis in terms a programmer can easily understand.

This book offers a comprehensive yet relentlessly practical overview of the fundamentals of modern cryptography. It contains a wide-ranging library of code in C and C++, including the RSA algorithm, completed by an extensive Test Suite that proves that the code works correctly. Readers will learn, step by step, how to implement a platform-independent library for the all-important multiprecision arithmetic used in modern cryptography. This is followed by an implementation of the cryptographic algorithms themselves.

The CD-ROM includes all the programs presented in the book, x86 assembler programs for basic arithmetical operations, implementations of the new Rijndael Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm in both C and C++, and more.

Book Info

Text focusing on the practical aspects of cryptography in C and C++, explaining cryptography and its mathematical issues in terms specifically designed to reach computer programmers. The CD-ROM features tools and programs for use with the text. System requirements not listed. Softcover.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good book -- Wrong title, April 17 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Cryptography in C and C++ (Paperback)

If truth in titling were a crime, someone would be in leg-irons over this one. This book should be entitled, "A Detailed Account of the Construction of a Large-Precision Number Library of the Sort that can be Used for RSA and Similar Cryptographic Systems, with a few Examples." The book fulfills this latter title exceptionally well.

The great majority of this book is a detailed, step-by-step account of the how the author constructed a C-language big-number library. It treats wrapping the C-libraries with C++ classes as a separate chapter -- nice touch. This treatise is thorough, well-written, and engaging. Nicely done. It is written from a mathematicians perspective, and its mathematical underpinnings may repel some programmers, but they need not fear. In the end the C-code is well-explained.

The only "cryptography" of note is a chapter on implementing RSA with the library. Indeed, the great majority of implementing RSA and similar ciphers is creating the big-number libraries. The RSA chapter is, fortunately, much more than a simple example. It is an excellent treatise of the pitfalls in implementing RSA. That is, RSA is more than a "simple example." If you are implemeting RSA with any big-number library, this chapter alone is worth the cost of admission.

There is a chapter on AES (Rijndael) cipher, but it is out of place here and an obvious paste-on, probably a last minute, hot-button item required by the publisher. It really has nothing you can't get from the original NIST documents on AES.

I'm willing to believe that the title and AES paste-on are the fault of the publisher, because otherwise Welschenbach did an excellent job -- lots of hard and careful work, well documeted. With a title-change, I'd give it a 5-star.

The question in the end is: Why would you want this book? Apart from general interest, the audiences that come to my mind are those who are constructing such libraries on their own, and those who need to use the software included with the book (on a non-commercial basis -- the software license prohibits commercial use).

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4.0 out of 5 stars a book that takes the abstract and makes it practical, July 14 2002

By

Harry Pandolfino (York, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cryptography in C and C++ (Paperback)

This book will only be appealing to avid crypto fans. The book takes the abstract concept of contemporary algorithms and provides mechanisms for the user to contstruct concrete examples in C & C++ computer code. A rare advanced crypto book that also provides the reader with the mechanisms to explore the various aspects of contemporary advanced crypto ideas in programs. Welschenbach provides the boilerplate code for integrating these highly esoteric functions in C. Invaluable if you have both crypto knowledge and programming acumen.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The best that did help and worked, Jan 24 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Cryptography in C and C++ (Paperback)

Finally a very good solution is available to overcome limitations in built-in data types!!we are a group of students from Velammal engineering college in India doing a project in cryptography.But we had problem in handling very large numbers that most of the cryptographic algorithms require.We searched the net but in vain it was similar to flogging a dead
horse.
And then we found the book "CRYPTOGRAPHY IN C" by MICHAEL WELSCHENBACH.A book we recommend for all the students interested in cryptography.Not just cryptography but to any other problem involving very large numbers.
The perfect guide to break the chains of built-in data types.
A must for every professional and students interested in Cryptography.Anyone having some knowledge in C can refer this wonderful book and wonder why such ideas never occured to them.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars half large, numbers half cryptography
This book is a great book, but I think the author spent too much time on numbers, and not enough on cryptography. Read more

Published on Dec 31 2001 by thecyberpunk

5.0 out of 5 stars * The cryptographic reference for developpers *
If you are interested or involved in any way in both C/C++ development and cryptography, this book is a must. Read more

Published on Oct 30 2001 by Andre Perroud