[.ca] Beginning Linux Programming (ISBN 1874416680)

Amazon.com Review:
Provided you have some previous basic exposure to C and Unix, Beginning Linux Programming delivers an excellent overview of the world of Linux development with an appealing range of essential tools and APIs. The standout feature of Beginning Linux Programming is its wide-ranging coverage of important topics in basic Unix programming. In a series of short chapters, the authors discuss the basics of writing Unix programs in C, with material on basic system calls, file I/O, interprocess communication (for getting programs to work together), and advanced topics such as socket programming and how to create Unix device drivers. Parallel to this, the book introduces the toolkits and libraries for working with user interfaces, from simpler terminal mode applications to X and GTK+ for graphical user interfaces. While you won't be an authority on X or GTK+ after reading this book, you will certainly be able to explore real Linux development on your own after the capable introductory guide provided here. (The book's main example, a CD-ROM database, gets enhanced in subsequent chapters using new APIs and features as the book moves forward.) This text also serves as a valuable primer on languages and tools such as Tcl, Perl, and CGI. (There's even a section that explains the basics of the Internet and HTML.) More than ever, there is no shortage of specific information on Linux programming, but few titles provide such a wide-ranging tour of what you need to know to get serious with Linux development. In all, Beginning Linux Programming gives the reader an intelligent sampling of essential topics in today's Linux. It's a wise choice for aspiring Unix C developers or folks seeking to extend the range of their Linux knowledge. --Richard Dragan Topics covered: Linux overview, compiling C programs, shell programming, pipes, script keywords and functions, Unix file I/O in C, Unix system functions, terminal interfaces (termios, keyboard input, the curses library), memory management, file locking, dbm databases, make and source control basics, man pages, debugging with gdb, processes and signals, POSIX threads and synchronization, IPC and pipes, semaphores, queues and shared memory, sockets, Tcl basics, X Windows and GTK+ for GNOME, Perl basics, HTML and CGI, writing Unix device drivers.

A Big Disappointment:
I have about 3 years of working with Visual Basic under Windows as a hobbyist and have been using K/Ubuntu for about a year and half at home. I wanted to get back in writing some simple GUIs for personal use and this book appeared to be the perfect match. There just isn't any help available if you get jammed up while trying to write, compile and run your programs. Absolutely not enough detail for a newbie to get up and running. I never could get the simplest GUI programs toward the end of the book to run with GTK. Since the title states it is "Beginning" Linux Programming a little hand holding & places for help is expected. I know my problem was no doubt caused by not having the proper things loaded with Synaptic but I had no idea of what to do. After futzing with it for a week, I finally cut my losses and chucked the book in the trash. A non-beginner would not have my trouble, no doubt, but I am a beginner. I have since been playing with wxWidgets and have had much more success. I do guess there are NO books out there for beginners wishing to do simple apps with Linux. In general, most Linux programming books & web sites are very poor compared to what is available for Windows.

Great book:
I bought this book 1996 when I was in high school. It was challenging, and now when I returned to it in 2006, I realize how much I skipped on my 96' reading. The great thing with this book (at least the 96 edition) is that is has such a nice flow. You will learn the concepts of Unix programming, introduced in a perfect order and pace. The source code compiles with no problems.

Really a good book for begginner:
Well the book is self explanotary and helps a new bee to understand easly the concepts of linux programmming

Excellent coverage of all bases:
This book is an excellent place to start with programming in the Linux environment. Its a good overview of all bases in the Linux environment, it takes every major topic in Linux programming and gives the reader a good foundation and gives enough information to help the reader know where to go from there. If you are new to Linux programming and not sure where to start, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

#1 Rated and Best Book in my I.T. Collection:
I own a lot of IT books. This is by far the best book I have ever bought. This book doesn't teach you C or C++, but it does show you how to get started programming in a Linux Environment. I like to learn by deconstructing simple examples. I have some "headfirst" books, but they are a little too nuts for me. Maybe that series attempts to teach artists or left brained people how to think like programmers. Perhaps the 1 star reviewers should have gotten one of those instead. If your analytical and right brained, and if you like to learn by doing, look no further. Ignore all the 1 star or negative reviews, 70 (5 star) reviews cant be wrong. You need to pickup a good C or C++ programming book as a companion to this, such as C++ primer plus. This book is responsible for taking my career to the next level. Since this book I have moved on to other classics such as "linkers and loaders" and the art of GDB Debugging among many others. Believe me, if you want to get started programming in Linux, you need to start here. Finally, I would like to thank the authors for this book because they literally hold nothing back. They give it to you straight and provide concrete code examples on which you can build your understanding through hard work and experimentation.