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Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment
Bestselling UNIX author Rich Stevens offers application and system programmers his professional, experienced-based guidance on using the system call interface with C. Since good examples are the key to a book like this, a simple shell program is developed in the first chapter and then expanded throughout the book to demonstrate the principles.
768 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 28, 2016
I gave this one 5* because it is an excellent reference for UNIX geeks and belongs in the standard IT cannon for us old farts that came up through the pre-Facebook Era of the 80s and 90s. Highly readable and with excellent examples. A classic.
April 12, 2007
I had the pleasure in my lifetime to take a tutorial from Stevens at a USENIX conference before he passed. It was an experience I will never forget. All of his books capture his ability to transfer very complex information in a way that no one else can quite do for me. Just like you will always remember that teacher who really made your wheels turn, I will always be greatful to Richard Stevens for his contribution to UNIX and TCPIP networking.
January 9, 2020
Possibly the best UNIX book I ever read and one of the best tech books ever. I don't know how I could have made it without it.
November 29, 2022
Where are AIX, and HP/UX, among other majors?
This book is a fantastic starting point in life. Somehow our public schools overlook teaching the fundamental skills presented in this book. We learn how to play with toys on simple computers and never really learn what we are doing.
The real strength of this book is in the definitions. We get to see the purpose and flexibility of system calls and functions. Not just use them but understand them. UNIX functions as job control or signals are explained in detail. Let's take just one item "waitpid":
The waitpid function provides three features that aren't provided by the wait function.
You will have to read the book to find out what they are. However, there are examples also. Now for people with real systems like AIX all you have to do is add a "k" to the front of the call and you have the AIX kernel function call "kwaitpid"; voila you now have an understanding that cannot be found clearly in a Red Book.
It does help some to have a pre-understanding of the system so that you can use the book to fill in the education holes missed when necessary.
The index is worth its weight in gold as you can find functions, headers, and concepts all in alphabetical order. My favorite is the definitions.
As much as I am a fan of the internet it also pays to carry the information in the form of a book. And all this book has to do is save a couple of hours and it has paid for itself.
Each addition adds newer information at the expense of dropping what appears to be obsolete information; so, it would behoove you to obtain a copy of each addition and periodically look for the latest.
This book is a fantastic starting point in life. Somehow our public schools overlook teaching the fundamental skills presented in this book. We learn how to play with toys on simple computers and never really learn what we are doing.
The real strength of this book is in the definitions. We get to see the purpose and flexibility of system calls and functions. Not just use them but understand them. UNIX functions as job control or signals are explained in detail. Let's take just one item "waitpid":
The waitpid function provides three features that aren't provided by the wait function.
You will have to read the book to find out what they are. However, there are examples also. Now for people with real systems like AIX all you have to do is add a "k" to the front of the call and you have the AIX kernel function call "kwaitpid"; voila you now have an understanding that cannot be found clearly in a Red Book.
It does help some to have a pre-understanding of the system so that you can use the book to fill in the education holes missed when necessary.
The index is worth its weight in gold as you can find functions, headers, and concepts all in alphabetical order. My favorite is the definitions.
As much as I am a fan of the internet it also pays to carry the information in the form of a book. And all this book has to do is save a couple of hours and it has paid for itself.
Each addition adds newer information at the expense of dropping what appears to be obsolete information; so, it would behoove you to obtain a copy of each addition and periodically look for the latest.
April 14, 2013
+ Comprehensive, both in breadth, and in depth
- Dry
Compared to writers such as Kernighan, Pike and Ritchie, I find Stevens' style awfully boring. K, P and R, for example, bring in interesting problems (e.g. Markov chains) to solve with the tools they are going to introduce to us. Stevens, in contrast, sticks to just explaining functions, mechanism, etc.
Good reference, but boring.
- Dry
Compared to writers such as Kernighan, Pike and Ritchie, I find Stevens' style awfully boring. K, P and R, for example, bring in interesting problems (e.g. Markov chains) to solve with the tools they are going to introduce to us. Stevens, in contrast, sticks to just explaining functions, mechanism, etc.
Good reference, but boring.
October 26, 2018
Stevens had an amazing ability to simply and clearly explain technical topics that can be quite complex. While I knew quite a bit about UNIX system programming, these book helped pull this topic together in a more complete way that I could have on my own, or by reading several other books. I still find myself regularly reaching for this book.
February 23, 2017
First read this in my first year after college graduation. There is fantastic clarity in exposition and I absolutely loved the book/page layout and font standards. It really hooked me into the whole Unix philosophy. Absolutely one of the best written and best-looking programming books.
August 22, 2015
Probably the best book on any UNIX programming. It's good for novices, and everyone can learn something from the book. It doesn't contain some of the weird and new interfaces some of the OSes contain, but sticks to the standards and promotes a pretty good programming style and interface.
March 24, 2008
Brutal to read, but I use this text on a regular basis.
July 16, 2008
This and K&R C are the 2 best books on Unix programming.
January 12, 2009
How I learned Unix programming. Great reference.
January 3, 2011
Finally started reading this. Great book, wish I read it 4 years ago when it would have been more helpful. Much faster way to learn the gist of the commands than reading man pages.
August 30, 2013
Get the second edition.
December 30, 2011
One of my favorite books from the past. I still have a copy of this book on my shelf. Good memories.
February 7, 2013
Very approachable and readable, much bigger than most other things on my bookshelf, this book delivers a wonderful insight into the details of Unix architecture and programming.
July 26, 2014
Read this around 1995-6 from front to back.
June 8, 2017
A really good book about programming in UNIX. I've learned a great deal from this book. From time to time it can be a bit boring and cumbersome, but overall an excellent book.
March 25, 2018
Working through this book again... Nothing short of 5 starts would do for this one of a kind
book written by an Unix god.
book written by an Unix god.
July 3, 2018
Top notch book from Stevens. Should be required reading in all CompSci programs.
November 5, 2018
Very good book to learn programming in Unix
I read till chaper 8, I will read again sometime
I read till chaper 8, I will read again sometime
December 4, 2019
Excellent reference to modern POSIX API.
January 28, 2021
One of my favorite books.
November 29, 2022
Where are AIX, and HP/UX, among other majors?
This book is a fantastic starting point in life. Somehow our public schools overlook teaching the fundamental skills presented in this book. We learn how to play with toys on simple computers and never really learn what we are doing.
The real strength of this book is in the definitions. We get to see the purpose and flexibility of system calls and functions. Not just use them but understand them. UNIX functions as job control or signals are explained in detail. Let's take just one item "waitpid":
The waitpid function provides three features that aren't provided by the wait function.
You will have to read the book to find out what they are. However, there are examples also. Now for people with real systems like AIX all you have to do is add a "k" to the front of the call and you have the AIX kernel function call "kwaitpid"; voila you now have an understanding that cannot be found clearly in a Red Book.
It does help some to have a pre-understanding of the system so that you can use the book to fill in the education holes missed when necessary.
The index is worth its weight in gold as you can find functions, headers, and concepts all in alphabetical order. My favorite is the definitions.
As much as I am a fan of the internet it also pays to carry the information in the form of a book. And all this book has to do is save a couple of hours and it has paid for itself.
Each addition adds newer information at the expense of dropping what appears to be obsolete information; so, it would behoove you to obtain a copy of each addition and periodically look for the latest.
This book is a fantastic starting point in life. Somehow our public schools overlook teaching the fundamental skills presented in this book. We learn how to play with toys on simple computers and never really learn what we are doing.
The real strength of this book is in the definitions. We get to see the purpose and flexibility of system calls and functions. Not just use them but understand them. UNIX functions as job control or signals are explained in detail. Let's take just one item "waitpid":
The waitpid function provides three features that aren't provided by the wait function.
You will have to read the book to find out what they are. However, there are examples also. Now for people with real systems like AIX all you have to do is add a "k" to the front of the call and you have the AIX kernel function call "kwaitpid"; voila you now have an understanding that cannot be found clearly in a Red Book.
It does help some to have a pre-understanding of the system so that you can use the book to fill in the education holes missed when necessary.
The index is worth its weight in gold as you can find functions, headers, and concepts all in alphabetical order. My favorite is the definitions.
As much as I am a fan of the internet it also pays to carry the information in the form of a book. And all this book has to do is save a couple of hours and it has paid for itself.
Each addition adds newer information at the expense of dropping what appears to be obsolete information; so, it would behoove you to obtain a copy of each addition and periodically look for the latest.
Read
October 30, 2019Solid text.
September 29, 2022
It's a clear and easy to understand programming for all UNIX programmers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2016
Quote:
Earlier versions of the UNIX System did not have the mkdir function; it was introduced with
4.2BSD and SVR3. In the earlier versions, a process had to call the mknod function to create a
new directory — but use of the mknod function was restricted to superuser processes. To
circumvent this constraint, the normal command that created a directory, mkdir(1), had to be
owned by root with the set-user-ID bit on. To create a directory from a process, the mkdir(1)
command had to be invoked with the system(3) function.
December 31, 2013
A good summary and guide to advanced programming in the Unix environment. Covers most of the major Unix APIs and shows you not only how to use the interfaces but how to use them properly and securely.
Read
August 9, 2012niiiice!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2012
Biblical!
Want to read
March 7, 2013i want to read this book entirely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews