Linux Programming Unleashed (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Kurt Wall (Author), Mark Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0672320215 | ISBN-13: 978-0672320217 | Edition: 2

An expert guide written for intermediate to advanced Linux programmers.Covers how to program core systems, user interfaces, device drives, networks, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Linux Programming Unleashed is a complete and comprehensive reference for intermediate to advanced Linux developers that covers every possible use of Linux. Topics include: Core Linux Programming; Interprocess Communication; Device Drivers; Development Tools (make, Emacs, diff and patch, etc.); Programming the User Interface; programming (including Motif, Athena, GTK, QT, and more); Scripting; Security; System Programming Using Libraries; Package Management; and Licensing. Linux Programming Unleashed contains hundreds of professional programming techniques and code for many real world applications. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Kurt Wall has been using UNIX since 1993 and has been hooked on Linux for nearly as long. He currently maintains the Informix on Linux FAQ and is President of the International Informix Users Group's Linux Special Interest Group. Kurt is Vice President of Salt Lake Linux Users Group where he recently gave a presentation on Linux and databases. Formerly employed with US West, he now works as a technical writer for Caldera and recently completed his first book, Linux Programming Unleashed, for Sams Publishing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 2 edition (December 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672320215
• ISBN-13: 978-0672320217
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #904,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Acceptable, but not excellent, October 14, 1999

By 

Anatoly Korzun "a_k" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Linux Programming Unleashed (Paperback)

Probably I would give it 3 stars and a quarter, or even one third, but obviously less than 4 stars.

The authors tried to cover nearly all the topics in linux programming (excluding databases). The results are quite mixed. The most of explanation is done using C, though C++ is also touched a couple of times.

The book consists of 6 parts.

Part 1 is the linux programming toolkit. Not bad at all. Suprising things are that gdb is described in part 5, and electric fence in part 2, not here.

Part 2 - System programming, Part 3 - Interprocess communication and networking. These parts are central and most valuable in the book. Good. Though I like Linux Application Development by M.K.Johnson and E.W.Troan better.

Part 4 - Programming the user interface. Very shallow. You can learn that such and such techniques exist but may hardly understand how to use them.

Part 5 - Special programming techniques. A strange feeling. As if the authors decided to collect here the material which they did'nt know where else to place.

Part 6 - Finishing touches (about creating the software packages and documentation). Not bad at all, though a little shallow again.

As it was already said in the previous reviews there are regular references to the non-existing CD.

RESUME: it is an acceptable book, espesially if you just start programming linux, or migrate from another platform. You will get acquainted quickly with the most necessary things. So if you have bought it, try to enjoy it:).

If you don't have it yet I recommend better to buy already mentioned Linux Application Development for both application and system programmers, plus Programming with Qt by M.Dalheimer or Developing Linux Application by E.Harlow if you are interested in GUI development for KDE or GNOME respectively.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference, January 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Linux Programming Unleashed (Paperback)

I can't praise this book enough . It's definatley the best programming related book that I've bought . The authors feature many topics like GUI construction , shell scripting , ncurses , memory management , security issues ... even touching on 3d graphics with Mesa . If you're interested in finding out what can be done with *NIX systems from the shell to windowing environments then you'd be well advised to check this out . My only criticisms are the authors have spread themselves a little thin over a lot of topics and there are references to the CD which doesn't accompany the book ( but is available online ) .In a nutshell the book delves into various programming ideas and construction of bare bones applications you can extend yourself , the learning curve is excellent and it's well paced.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is really nice.. It is not just a bunch of written FAQs, October 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Linux Programming Unleashed (Paperback)

I was looking for this kind of book for a long time. It really covers most of topics that you want to know. tips and notes are really helpful. If you want to begin development at Linux, in my opion, you should really take a look at this book.