Product Description
“This is the definitive reference book for any serious or professional UNIX systems programmer. Rago has updated and extended the original Stevens classic while keeping true to the original.” —Andrew Josey, Director, Certification, The Open Group, and Chair of the POSIX 1003.1 Working Group The same trusted content from the Second Edition, now in paperback! For over a decade, serious C programmers have relied on one book for practical, in-depth knowledge of… More >>
Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, Second Edition
Everything you wanted to know (and probably didn’t care to know) about linux.
The only drawback are some of the builtin functions that he uses. These are usually uppercase modifications of the lower case functions. It creates one more step for the reader, if they don’t want to use his builtin functions.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is a fantastic starting point in life. Some how our public schools over look teaching the fundamental skills presented in this book. We learn how to play with toys on simple computers and never really learn what we are doing.
The real strength of this book is in the definitions. We get to see the purpose and flexibility of system calls and functions. Not just use them but understand them. UNIX functions as job control or signals are explained in detail. Let’s take just one item “waitpid”:
The waitpid function provides three features that aren’t provided by the wait function.
You will have to red the book to find out what they are. However there are examples also. Now for people with real systems like AIX all you have to do is ad a “k” to the front of the call and you have the AIX kernel function call “kwaitpid”; voila you now have an understanding that can not be found clearly in a Red Book.
It does help some to have a preunderstanding of the system do you can use the book to fill in the education holes missed when necessary.
The index is worth its weight in gold as you can find functions headers and concepts all in alphabetical order. My favorite is the definitions.
As much as I am a fan of the internet it also pays to carry the information in the form of a book. And all this book has to do is save a couple of hours and it has paid for its self.
Mastering UNIX Shell Scripting
Rating: 4 / 5
Three years ago, this second edition was released in hardcover. A worthy and needed updating of the first edition. Now this paperback edition is made available. The cheaper cost will benefit some readers. Its reputation as one of the standard unix texts means that many unix and linux programmers need it in their workplace. But possibly the cost of the hardcover version was a deterrent.
Meanwhile, I reproduce my review of the second edition, hardcover, from 2005, below. My remarks in it still stand.
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Many of you who learnt unix in the 90s would have cut your teeth on the first edition of this book. This second edition should be well received. It encapsulates the changes in the unix world since 92. Most importantly, it shows the rise of linux. A rise that is still unabated.
Broadly, the structure of this edition matches the first edition. Rago was brought in as co-author after Stevens died in 99, and he has deliberately kept this consistency. I was glad to see that Rago kept the exercises at the end of each chapter. Many computer books seem to dispense with this, which can be a pity for anyone who needs hands on tasks to learn from.
The threading chapters are a significant change from the first edition. Not simple reading, but they do reflect powerful ways to possibly optimise your code. The biggest cost for you may be the effort you need to invest in understanding the coding issues in these chapters. Rago’s code examples are deliberately short, and necessarily somewhat artificial. But they do demonstrate well the various threading issues.
Of course, other chapters have had minimal alterations. How much have terminal I/O or pseudoterminals changed in 10 years? Those chapters may be old friends to you.
Rating: 5 / 5
Despite of the book’s size I have read more than a half in a short period of time. This book can be used as a reference and a textbook.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is the best $52 I have ever spent in my life. This book is really great. It provides very detailed information about UNIX functions.
I think every one should have this books at their desk. I love this book.
Rating: 5 / 5