Rating: 
Summary: Good reference in basic Unix API.
Review: This book seemed to be magnificent at first as it's big (700 pages), heavy and has a nice cover. And most of the text turned out to be great as well. But there were downsides.From the first 14-15 chapters it seems like this is one of the best API references I saw. It's not just Unix, it's the way the author writes. He tells you what can be done, how exactly and what to watch for. Typical chapter can look something like: --- Chapter 93. Cooking Eggs. Eggs are one of the delicious and nutricious meals. Kitchenware provides the following functions to cook eggs: egg_t eboil(egg_t egg, time_t time);
egg_t epanfry(egg_t egg, time_t time);
egg_t emicrowave(egg_t egg, time_t time); All three functions take egg and time to cook and return egg. If time is 0 the egg is cooked until ready. If time is less than 0, it's cooked either for abs(time) or until ready whichever is less. Note, that only superuser can microwave an egg. Historically, these functions were written to operate with kitchen eggs only. Latest versions of Kitchenware add a function yolkctl(egg_t egg, bird_t whose) that you call with eggs before you pass them cooking functions. Exercises: 1. Microwave an egg. What happened ? Explain why. --- Well, this is just a few lines, whereas in the book it takes pages and pages of very detailed pedantic explanation. And this was great until approximately chapter 14, when the author started to put more and more sample code inline, in pursue of showing the functional working application or set of functions. This is one of the downsides (to me, if you like to dig through C code rather than reading plain text words - all the better). I think that a book like that should be a reference. The author does not show any algorithms and ideas anyway, so why bothering writing something big ? Give men a bricks and they will build the house themselves. The other downside is also about the C sample code. As I said - the way Mr. Stevens writes text is very good. And the code is good as well, but not for a sample. In every single sample he is checking every possible error and not simply puts nice little trellis (...) where error handling should be, but actually handles them. Too pedantic and turns half of all the samples into calls to err_output or something. And at the very same time he uses custom header file (ourhdr.h) listed in appendix X, thus making it confusing to catch which is a new function you are reading about, and which is another auxiliary macro from that custom header. One more thing - the book is basically all about <unistd.h> & Co, it does not tell anything about advanced libraries, like regular expressions, Berkeley DB or zlib. I guess that's why there are several more volumes of the same author. The bottom line is, this book makes a good reference in basic Unix API.
Rating:
Summary: Still a great book (even after 8 years)
Review: The author of this book is famous for writing very clear and detailed (two characteristics which usually do not go hand in hand) programming books for the Unix environment. I don't think this book could possibly be more comprehensive at the time that it was written. Code examples are excellent and so are the explanations. Unfortunately, this book is old and only getting older. It was published in 1993, which is ancient history in the computer industry. But don't worry, most of the material in this book is still very useful and practical in today's world. That's why I think that this is still the best Unix programming book you can buy. I would have given this book five stars in 1993. I am lowering the rating to four stars only due to its age.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful writing style; not for "smart beginners"
Review: I've discovered through this volume just how popular Stevens' work really is: you can find his examples, even his discussions, reprinted verbatim in more than one professional course on systems interface programming. I won't name names here. :-) Stevens' writing style is relaxed but focussed. It's easy to follow his points, which is not a short list. The book is 740 pages, the font size is modest, the margins thin. The coverage is comprehensive, making it a useful reference. What I appreciate though is that Stevens didn't slide on too many topics, something references do when the reader is likely to spot-read. It's a well-organized book, full of many well-thought out descriptions and examples. The reader must bring some C programming and Unix systems experience to appreciate this book; it doesn't complement intuition or mere absorption very well. Intelligent systems programming starts with someone who needs things the operating system can provide, and needs to know how asking for resources changes application and OS behavior. Without some foundation, this book is just a very thick list of some special function calls. Buy this book only after you're comfortable with your compiler. Otherwise it'll get buried under a mound of installation and release notes, and put back on the shelf when your time runs out. A book like this deserves 2-3 days of study that is unbroken by tracking down tangents you're not familiar with; save your $60 until you have that kind of time and preparation.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Deal
Review: This book really helps you get the maximum out of your UNIX-based OS. Has enough information in it to handle some of the finer implementation differences between POSIX and SVR5. Very comprehensive and doesn't waste 3/4 of the book on redundant basics as most books do. Even the final chapter on psuedo terminals -- that could easily be dismissed as high-technical garble -- proved invaluable at my last position! Maybe the only downside is that this is a book is clearly targeted for the advanced. Beware! I don't know if I'd call this "enjoyable reading". Definitely a must reference for the bookshelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Unix programming bible
Review: Up to now, this is still the ONLY bible about UNIX programming. Even though Stevens is long gone, we will all remember his great work that gives us light while coding on UNIX.
Rating:
Summary: How to get it in China mainland
Review: How can I get it(English version books) in China mainland !
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for novices and advanced users alike.
Review: Well, this is one of those rare books (like "Applied Cryptography") which manages to cover all aspects of the material, but also makes it easy for novices to understand. I'd suggest having a fairly thorough background in C before you try this book. However, you don't need a deep knowledge of UNIX to understand it! After you get this book, you may want to do some socket (internet) programming. Since this book doesn't cover sockets in depth, I'd recommend (as a complement), "UNIX Network Programming, Volume 1: Networking APIs - Sockets and XTI " also by W. Richard Stevens.
Rating:
Summary: The best ever printed
Review: There's always something to learn. I must have read this book a dozen times, and I can say it's the best book I've ever read. If you really want to understand how Unix works, if you want a book really clear, coincise and useful, then you must buy this.. Don't care if it's a bit outdated, if you wanna learn Unix or Linux ... you can't avoid reading this!
Rating: 
Summary: It's out of date but GOOOOOD.
Review: This book is really very out of date. Alas, Stevens is no longer with us so there won't be an updated edition that deals with pthreads and other Posix issues. There are other books for that but this book really helped ground 9/10 decent systems programmers. It's a good read, mostly for key concepts and historical perspective, however its use as a cookbook for for todays programmers is limited. Raoul-Sam
Rating:
Summary: The most comprehensive book on UNIX
Review: Very clear examples and a very good read.
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