Amazon.com: Linux Programmer's Reference: Richard Petersen: Books

Elizabeth Zinkann, Sys Admin Magazine, June 2000
This handy-sized volume is an excellent reference and a superb companion to Linux: The Complete Reference, Third Edition, also by Petersen.

Book Description
Linux Programmer's Reference is useful to programmers at all levels, whether they are programming in the BASH, TCSH, or Z shell of Linux. More than just an alphabetical sourcebook of Linux commands, it captures all the nuances of the various shells and lists them completely, providing syntax, brief explanations, and programming examples for each command. In addition, the author provides expert advice on how, when, and why to use each command, helping you choose the msot suitable one for your particular task. Linux Programmer's Reference, 2nd Edition will be completely revised and updated to include coverage based on the new Linux kernel 2.2. Functions as an "idea book" so that a programmer can thumb through to find and provide appropriate solutions to the issue at hand.

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Paperback: 443 pages
Publisher: Osborne Publishing; 2nd edition (December 10, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0072123559
ISBN-13: 978-0072123555
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

Average Customer Review:

(4 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,658,641 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Also Available in: Paperback | All Editions

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

A litte clarification..., January 22, 2000

By	Patrick Roberts (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

The title of this book isn't exacly clear as to what it contains as the text, title, and summary use 'programming' to refer to both C/C++ programming and scripting. It has a some sections on using gcc, gdb, and make, but the first 157 pages are a reference to unix CLI syntax and shell commands (like "Unix in a Nutshell"). It would probably be good for a programmer who has never worked with Unix before. I was hoping for more of a "Linux Programmers" reference that covered Linux-specific nuances, libraries and devices, rather than a "Linux for Programmers" that shows how to use a shell and what the command line arguments are for gcc, etc... I guess the bottom line is it's not about programming, it's about scripting and the basic Linux/Unix tools that a programmer would use.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Good if you know your programming but are new to Linux., August 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Linux Programmer's Reference (Paperback)

If you already know the basics of programming (or even a little more than that), you're looking at Linux and you're a little confused about how it all goes together, this book does a pretty good job of explaining things, and it seems to be a good reference.

Example - I knew there were 'a.out' systems and 'ELF' systems, but I was a little confused when my Red Hat box started spitting out files named 'a.out' - this book explains the situation.

Before you read this you'd want to know what a shell is, and that there are several kinds of shell, and so on. You'd want to have a fair grasp of C and programming fundamentals (the shared library examples dive straight in with function pointers for example). You would also need to know your way around a Unix system before coming near the book, it's not going to help you in that area. IMHO that's a good thing, it cuts straight to the chase with the content.

In style, the book is _very_ concise. You'll need to read each page a couple of times to get the juice out. Occasionally it's too concise - it covers RCS (revision control system) and the 'ci' and 'co' commands without ever noting that they stand for 'check-in' and 'check-out', a concept that surely makes RCS easier to understand.

The examples that run through the book generally seem well structured and are able to be typed in and run on your machine as you read.

Overall I found this to be useful - it cleared up a LOT of dumb questions that I had. I'd like to have seen more on scripting languages than the appendices listing commands in Perl and Tcl/Tk. If a solid chapter on scripting languages was there instead of the two appendices, this would be a great book. As it is, it's still good. Well written, concise and it covers the ground. It'll do me!

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