Rating:  Summary: Will become a well-worn addition to your programming shelf.. Review: (This review is for the second edition)
If you're involved in trying to port software to a Unix/Linux application platform, you should get a copy of the 2nd edition of Linux Application Development by Michael K. Johnson and Erik W. Troan (Addison Wesley). This will become a key part of your learning.
Chapter Breakout:
Part 1 - Getting Started - History Of Linux Development; Licenses And Copyright; Online System Documentation
Part 2 - Development Tools And Environment - Development Tools; gcc Options And Extensions; The GNU C Library; Memory Debugging Tools; Creating And Using Libraries; Linux System Environment
Part 3 - System Programming - The Process Model; Simple File Handling; Signal Processing; Advanced File Handling; Directory Operations; Job Control; Terminals And Pseudo Terminals; Networking With Sockets; Time; Random Numbers; Programming Virtual Consoles; The Linux Console; Writing Secure Programs
Part 4 - Development Libraries - String Matching; Terminal Handling With S-Lang; A Hashed Database Library; Parsing Command-Line Options; Dynamic Loading At Run Time; User Identification And Authentication
Appendix A - Header Files; Appendix B - ladsh Source Code; Glossary; Bibliography; Index
With the recent rapid uptake of Linux-based servers and desktops, more and more companies are looking at porting their software from Windows platforms over to Linux. The trouble with porting in that instance is that the underlying operating system dependancies are all different, and unless you understand how to work with the OS, you're lost. Linux Application Development does an excellent job in first introducing the common tools that are used for application development on Linux. The assumption is that you'll be programming in C, but within that framework the authors explain each tool and how it can aid in developing your system (such as memory-checking tools that come with the GNU C library). Once the subject of application development environments is finished, they move on to the actual OS and how it should interface with the application. The book presents a lot of code for examples, as well as explaining exactly why things work as they do. By the time you've gotten to the end of the material, you should have a more-than-adequate understanding of how to build applications for Linux/Unix.
Excellent material for the application developer who needs to build on the Linux platform...
Rating:  Summary: Eleet! Review: A book for the experienced programmer that needs to know about development in a Linux viewpoint. This is THE book to keep on your desk for a reference, like I do! Covering topics that take advantage of this OS, this is a must have book!!!
Rating:  Summary: Among the best I've found on this subject Review: As an experienced C programmer new to Linux, I've found this well-written book to be very useful. Definitely a book to consider if you're serious about learning this subject.
Rating:  Summary: A Worthwhile Purchase Review: I am an NT systems developer, but I was recently tasked with writing a shared library to support a Unix server side application. After looking through the the huge and hyper-expensive "Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment" (not a bad book, but it says nothing about shared libs), I picked this book in desperation. After looking at a few chapters, I was able to get pretty much what I needed, so it definitely saved my day. I'd have to say that it paid for itself.
Rating:  Summary: Difficult to Read Program Listings Review: I haven't read this yet, so take my "3 stars" with a grain of salt. What immediately struck me was the lousy font chosen for the program listings. It is very weak and while the listings are readable, and most programmers know where to expect {} vice (), for example, it would be nice if your eyes could immediately differentiate between such similar characters. Mine can't.
Rating:  Summary: Awesome book. Review: I rate this book up there with APUE by Stevens. I wish I could have used this book when taking my systems and OS programming courses.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent book for any linux fan Review: i think , it's not a book for just developers it's a must for anyone who interest in Linux and want to learn how linux and linux applications run.
Rating:  Summary: Second Edition Review: I'm one of the authors, so take the 5 stars with a grain of salt...
Amazon's database is a bit confused about the two editions of Linux Application Development. Both are hardcover, but the second edition was released in November, 2004. The version with a mostly white color is the second edition; the cover of the first edition is mostly yellow. Hopefully this will get fixed; in the mean time I suggest you look at Addison Wesley's site (http://www.awl.com) for information on the second edition.
Rating:  Summary: Too bad for all the typo's... Review: Is a usefull book once you download the list of typo's in the book(from their all but hidden under a rock website). It was very troublesome to find so many things that did not work. A few needed help even after you made the recommended corrections. Already being a c programmer I was able to figure things out and get basically everything to work just fine with a little hacking, but a newbie might throw his computer out of the window in frustration. Lots of books have had typo's lately. I always get the phone call from a worried friend wondering what they are doing wrong only to find out that it was a simple mistake of the program never being tested before being printed in the book. Oh well, it's in a few of the newer O'Reily's even. It's just a shame, i'm glad I learned how to code back in the dark ages when books were tested before they were shipped.
Rating:  Summary: Maybe it should have been called "Unix App. Development" Review: It's a decent book, but it's not very well written, it's not very well typeset, and it's poorly proofread. It's generally clear enough, but at times it's sort of jumpy and sketchy.My biggest gripe is that the "Linux" in the title really means only that they take care to point out the places where Linux things in a way that some Unixes don't; where coding something the Linux Way will make it non-portable. This is quite admirable and probably quite useful, but I would much rather have had chapters on X and Gnome than on terminals, consoles, TTY's, Curses, and the like. All that stuff gave this book a musty, '80's feel, which wasn't helped by the occasional perjorative reference to MS-DOS.
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