Programmable Logic Controllers, Fourth Edition author: W. Bolton rating: asin: 0750681128 binding: Paperback list price: $36.95 USD amazon price: $24.02 USD

Another book reviewed by Jeremy Pollard at Control Design magazine.  He had good and bad comments for the book so it received an average rating here on PLCdev.

Programmable Logic Controllers: An Emphasis on Design and Application author: Kelvin T. Erickson rating: asin: 0976625903 binding: Hardcover list price: $100.00 USD amazon price: $100.00 USD

Jeremy Pollard at Control Design Magazine gives this book a glowing review . That's good enough for me to add it to our recommended reading list.

Automating with STEP 7 in LAD and FBD: SIMATIC S7-300/400 Programmable Controllers author: Hans Berger rating: asin: 3895782548 binding: Hardcover list price: $95.00 USD amazon price: $81.40 USD

The world would be a better place, at least for the Siemens PLC programmer, if there was a good instructional book available.  Unfortunately this book by Hans Berger is not it.  It’s definitely not a book for beginners and I couldn’t even recommend it for the more experienced programmer.  The only thing it might be good for is reference material in the later sections.

Programmable Logic Controllers author: Frank D. Petruzella rating: asin: 0078298520 binding: Hardcover list price: $121.00 USD amazon price: $121.00 USD

I really like this book.  The text discusses PLCs in a general sense even though the examples and exercises use the Allen Bradley line of PLC-5, SLC-500 and ControlLogix PLCs extensively.  So if you are student seeking to gain a good working knowledge of one of the most popular PLCs on the market then this is your book.  It deals very thoroughly in a basic and intermediate level, touching on some advanced concepts as well.  Some nice extra material not found in other books is chapter 13 on PLC Installation Practices, Editing and Troubleshooting.    The b

Programmable Controllers: Theory and Implementation author: L. A. Bryan E. A. Bryan rating: asin: 0826913008 binding: Paperback list price: $105.00 USD amazon price: $105.00

Programmable Controllers by L.A. Bryan and E.A. Bryan has been around for several years (first published in 1988) and is now in a second edition (1996). Its longevity is due to it's well written style, clear organization and it's generic nature which covers many PLCs. It's a book that targets an intermediate beginner level. So it's not a "PLC for dummies" book yet it might leave the advanced PLC programmer wanting more.