Interprocess Communications in UNIX: The Nooks and Crannies (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

John Gray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

The clearest, most complete guide to UNIX interprocess communications! When it comes to UNIX interprocess communications techniques that are essential to distributed client/server computing, no other book offers this much depth - or this much clarity. Starting with the basics, Interprocess Communications in UNIX, Second Edition explains exactly what UNIX processes are, how they are generated, and how they can access their own environments. This new edition also includes unprecedented practical coverage of multithreading with POSIX threads.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Beginning with the basics of what a process is, how a process is generated, and how a process accesses its own environment, this book details process communication techniques, starting with the basics of process communications, and proceeding to the complexitites of socket- based comunications. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Understanding processes is fundamental to understanding UNIX. This book zeroes right in on the key techniques of processes and interprocess communication (IPC) - from primitive communications to the complexities of sockets.Loaded with examples and illustrations that clarify each technique, Interprocess Communications in UNIX covers topics like: beginning and ending processes; using fork and exec together; using primitive communications; and working with both named and unnamed pipes. Learn how to create message queues; use remote procedure calls (RPCs); create and access semaphore sets; and create shared memory segments. Once you attain a thorough mastery of interprocess communication methodologies, using POSIX threads you'll learn communications techniques for multithreaded applications. Learn to handle multiple threads in both single and multiple processes. From beginning to end, the book truly leads you through the "nooks and crannies" of UNIX - making you a dramatically more effective programmer. Rave reviews! "I really like this book!!! Concepts that I only vaguely understood now make complete sense to me! The sample code and exercises are so good, they seem to clamp down on the concepts like a vise grip..." S. Lee Henry, Johns Hopkins University.All UNIX system administrators, system programmers and computer science students.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 2nd edition (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0138995923
• ISBN-13: 978-0138995928
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #855,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct and thorough, November 21, 2000

By 

Bob Stout (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interprocess Communications in UNIX: The Nooks and Crannies (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I'm the sort who prefers a well done quick reference guide to a textbook. If the material is presented clearly enough, I don't need or want to wade through page after page laying the groundwork for things I either already know or can figure out for myself. This book seems written with me in mind. It covered almost every aspect of Unix interprocess communications in sufficient detail for me to begin writing useful code. In addition to the nuts and bolts, the commentary provides useful tips and caveats, while noting which flavors of Unix/Linux support which functions, as well as which are supported in Posix.1 and Posix.4.

I think this viewpoint is reflected in the other reviews of this book - people either seem to really like it or really hate it. As someone who's made his career in embedded systems for some 20+ years, it was a great guide to fill in the blanks in my education, giving me the fundamentals and pointing me to the appropriate header files to learn the details.

In summary, if you generally know what you're doing, but need to quickly get up to speed on the things you may not already know, this is an excellent book. If you're a beginner, you may be more confused than enlightened.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good read for any UNIX programmer, January 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Interprocess Communications in UNIX: The Nooks and Crannies (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is a well written book that thoroughly covers the subject of IPC in UNIX. Gray carefully explains each topic. The chapter on sockets has sufficient information and examples to get the reader through a graduate level client/server course or familiarize the professional with these topics. I used the material on a LINUX platform with no problem.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars suitable also for network programming, September 16, 1999

By 

E. Karagianni (Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Interprocess Communications in UNIX: The Nooks and Crannies (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is one of the best introductory books on ... network programming with sockets. Believe it, although it includes just one chapter about sockets it makes a precise description of the basics of network programming, also notice that the code is ok for Linux.