Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$27.67 - $48.51

Available instantly

Paperback
$24.94 - $51.06

List Price: $72.95 Details

Save: $21.89 (30%)

FREE Returns

FREE delivery January 5 - 11

Or fastest delivery January 4 - 10

Arrives after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or text message.

Select delivery location

$$51.06 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2024

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2024

For the 2023 holiday season, eligible items purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2023 can be returned until January 31, 2024

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Thursday, January 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Arrives after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or text message.

Select delivery location

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by FranklinMedia

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Mike Gancarz

Follow

The UNIX Philosophy 1st Edition

by Mike Gancarz (Author)

4.8 18 ratings

See all formats and editions

There is a newer edition of this item:

Linux and the Unix Philosophy
$51.10
(21)
In Stock

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$51.06","priceAmount":51.06,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"51","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"06","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"7wpDZT6n5DiMDd%2F3Frn5ea2IxdA1%2FsUsgI4M%2BD3TQ7qOTWSwPINr4uiCzN%2BC7G6NMJdLGxZGfNQEScfoRae03tUysLVYdlV%2FoByOdiSiMwt3HXs2RYvTImf8BX%2FD1dKmL6r5MeOBmBk%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$24.94","priceAmount":24.94,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"24","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"94","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"7wpDZT6n5DiMDd%2F3Frn5ea2IxdA1%2FsUs0gm1aEx7X97Z%2BkFBq5Kj9aYudcBCPsSvmTiM8eNdj1Zy9p9DVwPoI1xgMC9qV0flRnlcst1m9h0Duh7qqDdcn2NbTBxCW1D0LCT%2FUwpfAo83wkZsHC73C8ISmn1tu%2FukGtmSt4nOkdQM6LhQhi5A8ALVsJscD3vX","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

* Deals with powerful concepts in a simple way * Highlights important characteristics of Operating systems and other abstract entities in a new way * Explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system philosophy

Unlike so many books that focus on how to use UNIX, The UNIX Philosophy concentrates on answering the questions: `Why use UNIX in the first place?'. Readers will discover the rationale and reasons for such concepts as file system organization, user interface and other system characteristics. In an informative, non-technical fashion, The UNIX Philosophy explores the general principles for applying the UNIX philosophy to software development. This book describes complex software design principles and addresses the importance of small programs, code and data portability, early prototyping, and open user interfaces. The UNIX Philosophy is a book to be read before tackling the highly technical texts on UNIX internals and programming. Written for both the computer layperson and the experienced programmer, this book explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system in detail, dealing with powerful concepts in a comprehensive, straightforward manner.

ISBN-10

1555581234
ISBN-13

978-1555581237
Edition

1st
Publisher

Digital Press
Publication date

December 28, 1994
Language

English
Dimensions

6.06 x 0.43 x 9.2 inches
Print length

176 pages
See all details

Brian W Kernighan
670
Paperback
12 offers from $10.84

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's a pleasant read-it's short and non-technical, focussing on ideology." --Mactech

From the Publisher

Written for both the computer layperson and the experienced programmer, this book explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system in detail, dealing with powerful concepts in a comprehensive, straightforward manner.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Digital Press; 1st edition (December 28, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1555581234
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1555581237
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.06 x 0.43 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #162 in Unix Operating System
- #208 in Computer Operating Systems (Books)
- #4,563 in Computer Software (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 18 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Mike Gancarz

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

18 global ratings

3 star

0%

2 star

5%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jose Figueroa Martinez

A great book for software developers.

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2010

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is easy to read, concise but funny, and made me think a lot of things about how I write my own code and how make it better.

I think this book can help every software developer. The Unix Philosophy is applied in all the Unix system, but can be applied outside Unix, to any software.

I learned and reaffirmed several ideas reading this book. Highly recommended. Five stars are only for very good books. I think this book deserves it.

Helpful

Roger Costello

This is the best book ever written on Software Engineering

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

[June 7, 2015] Want to write flexible, high-quality software? This book will teach you the tenets of good Software Engineering. This is one of the best books that I've ever read. Although the book is old, the principles espoused are timeless. I put this book up there with An Introduction to Mathematics by Alfred North Whitehead.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Gregory Casamento

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2013

Verified Purchase

The UNIX Philosophy is a classic. It distills the reasons why UNIX was designed the way it was and presents it as a way for programmers and developers to design their applications and programs. it provides valuable insight.

Helpful

Larry Zuckerman

Really good book that explains a lot of unix ideals and ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

Really good book that explains a lot of unix ideals and why things are the way they are. I read it in a day, totally worth it.

Helpful

Max Felker

You Have to Read This

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

It will change the way that you think about developing tools, technical or not. I love this book and recommend it to anyone in the field of computers.

Helpful

Robert Fitzgerald

It focuses more on the why and helps you better understand the system rather than how to use it

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2014

Very interesting book to read. Although it doesn't teach you much on "how to," it's still an important read for any aspiring Unix Administrator. It focuses more on the why and helps you better understand the system rather than how to use it.

Helpful

Tom O Bjorkholm

Every SW-designer should read this book every second year

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2000

This is a wonderful little book that every software designer should ready every second year. The book stresses the issues that we know, but all too often forget: small is beautiful, every program should do one thing well, use leverage, build prototypes, ...
The book also has the classical and wonderful story about the three systems of man. The first system is build by man, he has no time to do it "right". It is a "lean, mean computing machine". The success of the first system leads to the second. The second system is built by experts, the design is by a committee, and the result is a fat and slow system. The third system is built by people who have bean "burned" by the second system. Read the complete great story in the book.
For a user of UNIX or a designer of programs in the UNIX environment the book explains the UNIX design philosophy. This is what could be expected. However, software designers of all systems will benefit from reading the book. The UNIX philosophy is applicable and beneficiary to all software systems, regardless of the operating system used.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Norman Richards

Why I love UNIX

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2003

There is something magical about the power and elegance of UNIX systems. I never could quite put my finger on what was so right about UNIX until I read this book. Then suddenly I understand why it is that I've never been able to be productive on non-UNIX systems. (windows or pre OS X macs)
This books is a short and sweet. The author doesn't bog you down with endless ramblings or random technical details. It is simply an eye-opening look at the "WHY" of UNIX.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Image Unavailable

Follow the author