Beginning Linux Programming

Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to various concepts
Review: I can't say enough good things about this book! It covers a wide range of topics to such a depth that you will be proficient enough to slinging code when a section is compleat. For example before going into this book I had no ncurses knowlege at all, but by the end of the chapter I was coding ncurses apps easily, and I had a good idea where to go for topics that wern't covered in the book. This book does assume that you are proficient in C and the topics (exp threads and ipc) can get nasty quick. So if your looking for a beginning programming book you would be better off looking elsewhere, but if you need a introduction to linux/unix programming this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: good book - could be great
Review: This book will bring you up to speed on the Linux API. My only complaint is that it skims the surfaces. Take out the sections on Tcl, HTML, Perl, and CGI; they are so basic that they are useless anyway, and they don't fit in here. "Beginning Linux Programming" has the potential be the master of all of the Linux books if they would cut out these non-Linux topics and replace them with more Linux information.

For example, I loved the compiler section but it stopped short on shared libraries to save room for Perl and CGI later in the book. If the authors are listening: the cover of the book says Linux programming, not web programming.

As for the presentation of the book: Great examples, great explainations, and very clear.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional writing ability makes concepts clear
Review: I have approximately 5 feet of bookshelf space dedicated to linux books, by now. While many have detail that surpasses this book, none are written as clearly. I enjoyed the writing style as much as the information conveyed. You will not be disappointed with this tome.

A word of warning, however. This book, while a beginning introduction to many topics, is not for beginning programmers. If you do not already know C, shop for another book. The authors hit the ground running and do not stop to explain pointers and other syntactic minutia. This probably will not be a problem for most of you. Why would a complete novice jump into device drivers? Still, do not be fooled by the "Beginning" in the title. You are introduced to some fairly hairy concepts most programmers seldom delve into (system calls, for example).

Am I happy with this book? You bet. If every Wrox book is as expertly edited and authored, then O'reily has some stiff competition. By the way, do not ever purchase a book with the words "Unleashed", "Maximum", or "Que" on the cover. You'll regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Direct hit!
Review: Excellently balanced book. One of the rare ones that really correspond to their description in the foreword (which is worth reading, by the way). Very good combination of range of topics, depth, and conciseness (at least for me). Not the book, though, for very beginners or people who have no experience in UNIX-oids at all. The very important characteristic is that the book is good for aquiring something new (re-reading some material couple of times, of course), and at the same time excellent reference, so you don't want to throw it away after reading and buy something lighter on the same topics; believe me, the book is brief enough. Like the authors promised in the preface, a very wide range of topics is covered, so the book is perfect for deciding what you're up to in Linux and is also perfect for general education. But if you want a very detailed and very-very explanatory text on some topic, buy another book on the topic you are inerested in to become really proficient. Considering that the book is a brilliant general reference and tutorial at the same time, well-formatted, and almost without any typos, I would say that for Linux programmers it is rather a must-have item than nice-to-have one.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book!
Review: Every computer book should be like this one! Very easy to understand, yet still manages to reach depth of subject AND in MANY areas of Linux - definitely the best way to start Linux Programming!

Rating:
Summary: Nice One Guys!
Review: What can I say this book is good.

Even if you are a novice C or C++ programmer, or just looking for more in depth information on GNU/Linux or Unix systems you would be hard pressed to go past this book.

The book covers a myriad of topics from bash shell script programming to X and GTK topics, HTML and CGI scripts!

It does it in an easy to read style, with good examples that will let you find out whats going on and then allow you to work them into your own programs and code with minimum fuss.

There is even, in chapter 21, an introduction into kernel module development and device drivers for GNU/Linux that goes a long way towards de-mystiying this (to me) mysterious topic.

In all of the topics there is an explantion of common pitfalls that occur, and even better good sensible ways of avoiding them or overcoming them.

Do yourself a favour if you are just beginning C or C++ programming in the GNU/Linux or Unix enviroments get this book, it will make your life much much easier!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent device driver section
Review: I bought this book because I was looking for information on writing device drivers and I noticed Chapter 21. This chapter of the book was concise and fairly complete. I would have liked to have seen info on programming PCI and DMA under Linux here but hey you don't want to get hurt carrying the book. The rest of the book was just icing on the cake for me. I would encourage the authors to write a book solely on device drivers since they have a nack for clear and well organized presentation.

Rating:
Summary: Should have left well enough alone
Review: The 1st edition was so well done that you might know the 2nd edition would be a disappointment. The authors and contributors have done a fine job; there is a wealth of well presented detail here. It's the physical production of the second edition that disappoints. For reasons known only perhaps to Wrox management, someone changed style sheets; light typefaces now appear where there was bold, double line space where there was single, wider bottom margins that consume more paper, etc. Inappropriate typefaces adversly affect the readability of what could have been another excellent book. They had it right to begin with; they could have left it alone.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Primer for Linux Programming
Review: This is a really cool book, not only technically, but a decent read also. It covers all the major Linux languages: C, TCL/TK, Perl, Shell programming, etc. It's not just a cornucopia of different dialects, though, it's clear the authors are true bilinguals: all the examples are well coded, commented and generally do things in the way I would!.

Anyone who finishes this book to be able to write pretty much anything they please. It shows you stuff from small utilities for the command line to full GUI-driven database apps. There is a section on writing device drivers and kernel hacking, there's also another section on writing HTML. It really is that broad and encompassing, I refer to it time and time again.

Although this book is called 'Beginning Linux Programming', it's clear that a lot of the skills you'll gain from this book are transferable to other platforms, thanks to POSIX, X/Open, et al.

One possible criticism is that KDE programming is not covered (except, the TCL/TK programs will obviously work under KDE, as will the GNOME programs if you have the correct libraries installed). However, the book had to end somewhere, and for the bang-per-buck (this is a big book) the value-for-money is quite amazing.

And, to top it all off, it has a foreword by Alan Cox, Linux demi-god uber-geek. If that's not a recommendation, nothing is!

Rating:
Summary: IM having a MS flashback....
Review: As simple as I can put it this book reminds me of something that would have MS slapped across the front... iow If you have a couple of years to sift through a book and find the valuable information then this book is for you.... I wont totally put down this book after all it helps keep my door open....