Developing Linux Applications

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Developing Linux Applications with GTK+ and GDK, Eric Harlow provides a comprehensive explanation of how to program with the GIMP Toolkit (GTK+) and the Graphics Drawing Kit (GDK). These tools dramatically ease the process of building graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Linux applications.

Harlow takes a didactic approach to his subject, revealing its details one at a time with a careful explanation of each. He first explains how to build a plain, one-window application and then shows how to enhance it with the help of event handlers, additional GTK+ widgets, and some little-used interface elements. He presents complete examples to illustrate concepts, including a calculator and simple word processing application. Along the way, he does a great job of clearing up often confusing tasks, like creating menu bars and managing layouts.

Before wrapping up, Harlow explains the GDK, which you can use to create custom graphical elements. In a particularly grin-inducing section, he reveals how to write a version of the classic arcade game Defender with the help of the GDK. There's also a segment on creating your own widgets, so you can craft a customized yet consistent look for the programs you create. --David Wall

Product Description

The goal of Developing Linux Applications is to provide a handbook for developers who are moving to the Linux platform. Linux Application Development covers the GTK+ library including GLIB and GDK using C. You'll find information covered no place else--information that Linux developers need in one comprehensive development book. All of the applications and code the author developed for the title have been released under the GPL.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (February 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735700214
• ISBN-13: 978-0735700215
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,293,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars very unprofessional, January 20, 2002

By	Alexander L. Belikoff (NY, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are a number of factors that separate good toolkit programmer manuals from less gifted ones:

* There should be a number of rather large realistic examples - not just dozens of snippets rivaling the "Hello, World's" complexity. In this sense, Harlow's book is fine: there are good examples of real-life programs that could get the programmer going.

* There should be no cheesy stripped down (and ultimately useless) API reference, occupying the last third of a book. This book doesn't make this mistake either.

* API calls described must be presented clearly, with all parameters documented and return values explained. And that's where this book screws it up real bad.

Let me make it clear - it will be almost impossible for you to try any of the smaller examples from the book without having access to the API reference (or another book for that matter). I mean, having an example like:

htable = g_hash_table_new(HashValueKey, HashValueComparator);

how am I supposed to figure out what the type of htable is? And most examples in the book are just like that. This is a serious problem with the book that should've been caught by the editor or by anyone trying to look at the text with a fresh set of eyes.
And it is a pity - this book doesn't violate the two main principles stated above so it could've been the best one on the subject.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent way to get started, March 15, 1999

By	David Dennis (Woodland Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I looked at this book in the bookstore, was impressed by the quality of presentation, brought it home and was writing working applications in a few hours without any other documentation. If you need to get up to speed, I don't think you could do better than this; it's extremely well written and tells its story well.

It has a large sampling of examples, and I really liked them because they were useful in their own right, and tied into the things I wanted to use GTK for.

There are two significant flaws in this book. First, there were a number of embarassing errors that got past the copyreaders. Some functions had upper case in their names when printed; the actual functions are all lowercase. The gtk-config program takes options beginning with double hyphens, not single hyphens. This kind of sloppiness is annoying, and I'm sure there are many beginners who will stop learning, not realizing they are literally a hyphen away from success.

The second problem is that, once you're through the examples, what you really need is a reference book, and this work completely fails at it. The index is embarassingly incomplete, and many aspects of GTK are explained just well enough to get you started, which can leave you hanging later.

But the rest of the book is so well done that I can ignore those flaws. If you want or need to learn GTK, this is a fantastic introduction that will serve you well.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn good book, January 27, 2000

By	Chris Gonnerman (LaBelle, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been programming console apps in pure, raw C for over ten years, but never could master GUI programming in Windows or X either. GTK has saved me from a GUI-less life, and Harlow's book was my introduction.

Sure, it's not perfect, but I learned a lot years ago from Herb Schildt's books (remember him?) HIS code was fragile as cut glass... but debugging is good practice, and some of his methods were brilliant. (but sloppy)

Eric Harlow is much better. Many of the errors in the code presented (gpointer *data at the end of a callback declaration, when it should be gpointer data, for instance) may well be typographical in nature. I downloaded the example code and built several of the programs with much less difficulty than many console apps I have ported.

Give the man a break. He was the first into the breach, so to speak. If you need a more advanced book, get Havoc Pennington's "GTK+/Gnome Application Programming" and have at it. I have both, and am still learning a lot from them.