Beginning Linux Programming (Programmer to Programmer)
Beginning Linux Programming (Programmer to Programmer) by Neil Matthew and Richard Stones
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Number of Pages:
- 888
- ISBN:
- 0764544977
- Product Group:
- book
- Publisher:
- John Wiley & Sons
- Publication Date:
- Dec. 30, 2003
- BooksForGeeks.com ID:
- 1747
With its decidedly user-unfriendly command line interface, Linux can be a foreboding operating system for the beginner. Far from the simple point-and- click style of Windows this UNIX derivative can be confusing to the point of raw frustration for all but the most patient of new users. Good job those nice people at Wrox Press have taken the subject in hand then! In spite of the age of this volume (it was published back in 1996) Beginning Linux Programming has aged very well and if you forgive the mentions of beta versions of some old versions of software there's plenty in here to keep the average Linux newbie happy.
Over 700 pages authors Neil Matthew and Richard Stones broach a huge number of topics ranging from shell programming to the use of curses, communication using sockets and an introduction to the Tcl language in an informative and easy to digest fashion. The one thing this book doesn't do is teach the newbie how to install Linux--that task is left in the hands of sister volume Instant Unix, but if you've already got that far and are looking for pointers on where to go next, Beginning Linux Programming could be the answer to the lion's share of your problems.
Reviews for Beginning Linux Programming (Programmer to Programmer)
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If you can read it, you dont need it
Rated out of 5 stars, February 12rd, 2002
This book is a highly condensed survey of the programming methods available in linux.As such it is useful.Because of the condensation, frequent reference to the various documentation facilities available within linux is necessary. Here is where it gets sticky. You have to find out for yourself how to navigate the documentation. As a for instance; to discover information about the built in functions in perl, type perldoc -f split.
I use split as an example, substitute for split the function in question.This is not obvious to the newbie reader and it will involve considerable work to discover it. This kind of information is not available in the book as it so easily could be and so a good effort is spoiled. -
Disappointing
Rated out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2001
1) The chapters are in random order, 2) facts were plain wrong and out of date, 3) A big FAT book with little payoff for hours of reading. 3) examples overcomplicated, repetative, yet not diverse enough. 4) No CD with the examples on it.example 1. Lets take the coverage of CVS. A basic example to get it (a) running locally, then (b) running on a server would suffice. Well (a) is present, but (b) is glib and plain incorrect - much time wasted as a result! - but got there in the end using help from a newsgroup.
example 2. The chapter on sockets is bad. After writing much overcomplicated code (not on a CD) what to you achieve? A machine that sends one character to itself!!. So its not useful. A simple UDP port viewer would be handy, but there are no UDP examples AT ALL. Funny, because it can be simple, I needed it, and its a beginners book.
In a book this fat a usefully organised appendix of examples on how to get things done fast would be handy - but no chance.
It seems to me the authors had historical knowledge, but working knowledge was just based on reading man pages rather than years of experience and refinement by repetition at the job.
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Brilliant - even experienced programmers will love this.
Rated out of 5 stars, August 12th, 2000
As a computer science student, I know how to code big apps. I know all the algoritms - all the theory. But when I want to write an FTP server, a kernel module or trap hairy signals - I turn to this book. If one is just hacking a little bit with Linux (even Unix) - it's a must! Very highly recommendable. -
Excellent for beginers
Rated out of 5 stars, August 12th, 1999
I bought this book almost a year ago. But this book helped me a lot in *getting my way around* with Linux. The FYI, and comments in the book text are so useful that they prevent you doing anything wrong. I do recommend this book to all beginners. But beware that this book is really for those who have no UNIX experience at all.