Programming Books

A Practical Guide to Linux(R) Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming

Mark G. Sobell

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Praise for Mark Sobell's Books "I keep searching for books that collect everything you want to know about a subject in one place, and keep getting disappointed. Usually the books leave out some important topic, while others go too deep in some areas and must skim lightly over the others. A Practical Guide to Red Hat(R) Linux(R) is one of those rare books that actually pulls it off. Mark G. Sobell has created a single reference for Red Hat Linux that cannot be beat! This marvelous text (with a 4-CD set of Linux Fedora Core 2 included) is well worth the price. This is as close to an 'everything you ever needed to know' book that I've seen. It's just that good and rates 5 out of 5." --Ray Lodato, Slashdot contributor"Mark Sobell has written a book as approachable as it is authoritative." --Jeffrey Bianchine, Advocate, Author, Journalist"Excellent reference book, well suited for the sysadmin of a linux cluster, or the owner of a PC contemplating installing a recent stable linux. Don't be put off by the daunting heft of the book. Sobell has striven to be as inclusive as possible, in trying to anticipate your system administration needs."--Wes Boudville, Inventor"A Practical Guide to Red Hat(R) Linux(R) is a brilliant book. Thank you Mark Sobell." --C. Pozrikidis, University of California at San Diego"This book presents the best overview of the Linux operating system that I have found...It should be very helpful and understandable no matter what the reader's background is: traditional UNIX user, new Linux devotee, or even Windows user. Each topic is presented in a clear, complete fashion and very few assumptions are made about what the reader knows...The book is extremely useful as a reference, as it contains a 70-page glossary of terms and is very well indexed. It is organized in such a way that the reader can focus on simple tasks without having to wade through more advanced topics until they are ready." --Cam Marshall, Marshall Information Service LLC, Member of Front Range UNIX Users Group FRUUG, Boulder, Colorado"Conclusively, this is THE book to get if you are a new Linux user and you just got into RH/Fedora world. There's no other book that discusses so many different topics and in such depth." --Eugenia Loli-Queru, Editor in Chief, OSNews.comThe Most Useful Linux Tutorial and Reference Ever, with Hundreds of High-Quality Examples Covering Every Linux Distribution!To be truly productive with Linux, you need to thoroughly master the shells and the command line. Until now, you had to buy two books to gain that mastery: a tutorial on fundamental Linux concepts and techniques, plus a separate reference. Worse, most Linux references offer little more than prettied-up man pages. Now, there's a far better solution. Renowned Linux expert Mark Sobell has brought together comprehensive, insightful guidance on the tools system administrators, developers, and power users need most, and an outstanding day-to-day reference, both in the same book. This book is 100 percent distribution and release agnostic: You can use it on any Linux system, now and for years to come. What's more, it's packed with hundreds of high-quality examples: better examples than you'll find in any other Linux guidebook. This is Linux from the ground up: the clearest explanations and most useful knowledge about everything from filesystems to shells, editors to utilities, and programming tools to regular expressions. And when you need instant answers, you'll constantly turn to Sobell's comprehensive command reference section--organized and tabbed for easy, fast access!Don't settle for yesterday's Linux guidebook. Get the one book that meets today's challenges--and tomorrow's! A Practical Guide to Linux(R) Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming is the most useful, most comprehensive Linux tutorial and reference you can find.It's the only book to deliver *Better, more realistic examples covering tasks you'll actually need to perform *Deeper insight, based on Sobell's immense knowledge of every Linux nook and cranny *More practical explanations of more than eighty core utilities, from aspell to xargs *Techniques for implementing secure communications using ssh and scp--plus dozens of tips for making your system more secure *A superior introduction to the Linux programming environment, including make, gcc, gdb, CVS, and much more *Expert guidance on basic and advanced shell programming using bash and tcsh *Tips and tricks for customizing the shell and using it interactively from the command line *Thorough guides to vim and emacs, designed to help you get productive fast and maximize your editing efficiency *Dozens of exercises to help you practice and gain confidence *Instructions for using Apt, yum, and BitTorrent for keeping your system up to date automatically *And much more, including coverage of gawk, sed, find, sort, bzip2, and regular expressions

Understanding the Linux Kernel, Third Edition

Daniel Bovet, Marco Cesati

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In order to thoroughly understand what makes Linux tick and why it works so well on a wide variety of systems, you need to delve deep into the heart of the kernel. The kernel handles all interactions between the CPU and the external world, and determines which programs will share processor time, in what order. It manages limited memory so well that hundreds of processes can share the system efficiently, and expertly organizes data transfers so that the CPU isn't kept waiting any longer than necessary for the relatively slow disks.

The third edition of "Understanding the Linux Kernel" takes you on a guided tour of the most significant data structures, algorithms, and programming tricks used in the kernel. Probing beyond superficial features, the authors offer valuable insights to people who want to know how things really work inside their machine. Important Intel-specific features are discussed. Relevant segments of code are dissected line by line. But the book covers more than just the functioning of the code; it explains the theoretical underpinnings of why Linux does things the way it does.

This edition of the book covers Version 2.6, which has seen significant changes to nearly every kernel subsystem, particularly in the areas of memory management and block devices. The book focuses on the following topics:

Memory management, including file buffering, process swapping, and Direct memory Access (DMA)

The Virtual Filesystem layer and the Second and Third Extended Filesystems

Process creation and scheduling

Signals, interrupts, and the essential interfaces to device drivers

Timing

Synchronization within the kernel

Interprocess Communication (IPC)

Program execution

"Understanding the Linux Kernel" will acquaint you with all the inner workings of Linux, but it's more than just an academic exercise. You'll learn what conditions bring out Linux's best performance, and you'll see how it meets the challenge of providing good system response during process scheduling, file access, and memory management in a wide variety of environments. This book will help you make the most of your Linux system.

Essential Linux Device Drivers (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development Series)

Sreekrishnan Venkateswaran

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“Probably the most wide ranging and complete Linux device driver book I’ve read.”

--Alan Cox, Linux Guru and Key Kernel Developer

“Very comprehensive and detailed, covering almost every single Linux device driver type.”

--Theodore Ts’o, First Linux Kernel Developer in North America and Chief Platform Strategist of the Linux Foundation

The Most Practical Guide to Writing Linux Device Drivers

Linux now offers an exceptionally robust environment for driver development: with today’s kernels, what once required years of development time can be accomplished in days. In this practical, example-driven book, one of the world’s most experienced Linux driver developers systematically demonstrates how to develop reliable Linux drivers for virtually any device. Essential Linux Device Drivers is for any programmer with a working knowledge of operating systems and C, including programmers who have never written drivers before. Sreekrishnan Venkateswaran focuses on the essentials, bringing together all the concepts and techniques you need, while avoiding topics that only matter in highly specialized situations. Venkateswaran begins by reviewing the Linux 2.6 kernel capabilities that are most relevant to driver developers. He introduces simple device classes; then turns to serial buses such as I2C and SPI; external buses such as PCMCIA, PCI, and USB; video, audio, block, network, and wireless device drivers; user-space drivers; and drivers for embedded Linux–one of today’s fastest growing areas of Linux development. For each, Venkateswaran explains the technology, inspects relevant kernel source files, and walks through developing a complete example.

• Addresses drivers discussed in no other book, including drivers for I2C, video, sound, PCMCIA, and different types of flash memory

• Demystifies essential kernel services and facilities, including kernel threads and helper interfaces

• Teaches polling, asynchronous notification, and I/O control

• Introduces the Inter-Integrated Circuit Protocol for embedded Linux drivers

• Covers multimedia device drivers using the Linux-Video subsystem and Linux-Audio framework

• Shows how Linux implements support for wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Infrared, WiFi, and cellular networking

• Describes the entire driver development lifecycle, through debugging and maintenance

• Includes reference appendixes covering Linux assembly, BIOS calls, and Seq files

RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302) (Certification Press)

Michael Jang

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Best Fully Integrated Study System Available

With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide, Fifth Edition covers what you need to know--and shows you how to prepare--for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all objectives for exam RH302
• Exam Readiness Checklist at the front of the book--you're ready for the exam when all objectives on the list are checked off
• Inside the Exam sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Real-world exercises modeled after hands-on exam scenarios
• Two complete lab-based exams simulate the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam
• Bonus content (available for download) includes installation screen review, basic instructions for using VMware and Xen as testbeds, and paper and pencil versions of the lab exams

Covers all RH302 exam topics, including:

• Hardware installation and configuration
• The boot process
• Linux filesystem administration
• Package management and Kickstart
• User and group administration
• System administration tools
• Kernel services and configuration
• Apache and Squid
• Network file sharing services (NFS, FTP, and Samba)
• Domain Name System (DNS)
• E-mail (servers and clients)
• Extended Internet Services Daemon (xinetd), the Secure package, and DHCP
• The X Window System
• Firewalls, SELinux, and troubleshooting

Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development Series)

Christopher Hallinan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Comprehensive Real-World Guidance for Every Embedded Developer and Engineer

This book brings together indispensable knowledge for building efficient, high-value, Linux-based embedded products: information that has never been assembled in one place before. Drawing on years of experience as an embedded Linux consultant and field application engineer, Christopher Hallinan offers solutions for the specific technical issues you’re most likely to face, demonstrates how to build an effective embedded Linux environment, and shows how to use it as productively as possible.

Hallinan begins by touring a typical Linux-based embedded system, introducing key concepts and components, and calling attention to differences between Linux and traditional embedded environments. Writing from the embedded developer’s viewpoint, he thoroughly addresses issues ranging from kernel building and initialization to bootloaders, device drivers to file systems.

Hallinan thoroughly covers the increasingly popular BusyBox utilities; presents a step-by-step walkthrough of porting Linux to custom boards; and introduces real-time configuration via CONFIG_RT--one of today’s most exciting developments in embedded Linux. You’ll find especially detailed coverage of using development tools to analyze and debug embedded systems--including the art of kernel debugging.

• Compare leading embedded Linux processors
• Understand the details of the Linux kernel initialization process
• Learn about the special role of bootloaders in embedded Linux systems, with specific emphasis on U-Boot
• Use embedded Linux file systems, including JFFS2--with detailed guidelines for building Flash-resident file system images
• Understand the Memory Technology Devices subsystem for flash (and other) memory devices
• Master gdb, KGDB, and hardware JTAG debugging
• Learn many tips and techniques for debugging within the Linux kernel
• Maximize your productivity in cross-development environments
• Prepare your entire development environment, including TFTP, DHCP, and NFS target servers
• Configure, build, and initialize BusyBox to support your unique requirements

About the Author

Christopher Hallinan, field applications engineer at MontaVista software, has worked for more than 20 years in assignments ranging from engineering and engineering management to marketing and business development. He spent four years as an independent development consultant in the embedded Linux marketplace. His work has appeared in magazines, including Telecommunications Magazine, Fiber Optics Magazine, and Aviation Digest.

Ubuntu Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Ubuntu and Debian Power Users

Christopher Negus, Francois Caen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excelent reference 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book is part of a "collection" for the most important distros, and the authors did a great job in the selection of subjects and examples.

The only thing I don't like at all is the big cut-and-paste made in several chapters between the books of this "collection", I think starting from the "fedora sibling" one. For example, on page 240 of the "ubuntu sibling" you may see a ftp session showing how to get a Fedora 7 iso image; on page 157 they forgot to translate a "yum install...".

So mi only advice is to the people planning to buy all the collection: compare first before because a lot is verbatim repeated.

Considered alone, this book is very good for several reasons the other reviewers did write and I totally agree.

Editorial Review:

In this handy, compact guide, you’ll explore a ton of powerful Ubuntu Linux commands while you learn to use Ubuntu Linux as the experts do: from the command line. Try out more than 1,000 commands to find and get software, monitor system health and security, and access network resources. Then, apply the skills you learn from this book to use and administer desktops and servers running Ubuntu, Debian, and KNOPPIX or any other Linux distribution.

Linux in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Ellen Siever, Aaron Weber, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, Arnold Robbins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over the last few years, Linux has grown both as an operating system and a tool for personal and business use. Simultaneously becoming more user friendly and more powerful as a back-end system, Linux has achieved new plateaus: the newer filesystems have solidified, new commands and tools have appeared and become standard, and the desktop--including new desktop environments--have proved to be viable, stable, and readily accessible to even those who don't consider themselves computer gurus.

Whether you're using Linux for personal software projects, for a small office or home office (often termed the SOHO environment), to provide services to a small group of colleagues, or to administer a site responsible for millions of email and web connections each day, you need quick access to information on a wide range of tools. This book covers all aspects of administering and making effective use of Linux systems. Among its topics are booting, package management, and revision control. But foremost in "Linux in a Nutshell" are the utilities and commands that make Linux one of the most powerful and flexible systems available.

Now in its fifth edition, "Linux in a Nutshell" brings users up-to-date with the current state of Linux. Considered by many to be the most complete and authoritative command reference for Linux available, the book covers all substantial user, programming, administration, and networking commands for the most common Linux distributions.

Comprehensive but concise, the fifth edition has been updated to cover new features of major Linux distributions. Configuration information for the rapidly growing commercial network services and community update services isone of the subjects covered for the first time.

But that's just the beginning. The book covers editors, shells, and LILO and GRUB boot options. There's also coverage of Apache, Samba, Postfix, sendmail, CVS, Subversion, Emacs, vi, sed, gawk, and much more. Everything that system administrators, developers, and power users need to know about Linux is referenced here, and they will turn to this book again and again.

Beginning Ubuntu Linux, Third Edition (Beginning from Novice to Professional)

Keir Thomas, Jaime Sicam

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Beginning Ubuntu Linux, the award–winning and best–selling Ubuntu book for beginners, is now in its third edition, presenting readers with an up–to–the–minute introduction to the world of Linux and the open source community. A detailed overview of Ubuntu’s installation and configuration process encourages you to take the plunge and switch to Linux, and from there you’ll learn how to wield total control over your newly installed operating system. Guided through the most commonly desired tasks such as printer configuration, listening to audio CDs and MP3s, watching movies, performing office and Internet–related tasks, as well as general system maintenance matters, authors Keir Thomas and Jaime Sicam will soon have you using and enjoying Ubuntu Linux and never looking back.

You’ll also find a series of comprehensive tutorials on Linux internals and the command–line prompt—essential for any Linux user—along with special sections on optimization, security, and system maintenance that will broaden your knowledge to professional level.

The complete Ubuntu Linux distribution is included free on the DVD inside the book. Simply insert the DVD and follow the instructions in the book to install Ubuntu Linux!

• The ultimate guide to Ubuntu, the hottest Linux distribution on the planet
• Avoids introductions to esoteric Linux topics that are commonly found in other books and focuses on everyday tasks for everyday users: printer and file sharing configuration, office document management, listening to MP3s, watching movies, and much more
• Includes a DVD containing not only the complete Ubuntu version, but also versions of Ubuntu’s sister projects, including Edubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu

What you’ll learn

• Use Ubuntu as a daily desktop replacement.
• Complete all manner of office tasks, such as creating Microsoft Office–compatible documents and spreadsheets, using e–mail, and managing contacts.
• Listen to MP3s and CDs, and watch movies using user–friendly Linux desktop applications.
• Configure Ubuntu’s printer– and file–sharing features to share resources seamlessly with other computers on your network.
• Become a proficient user of the Linux command line.

Who is this book for?

Beginning Linux users seeking to explore the popular Ubuntu distribution

About the Apress Beginning Series

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!

Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition

Jonathan Corbet, Alessandro Rubini, Greg Kroah-Hartman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Updated to cover version 2.4.x of the Linux kernel, the second edition of Linux Device Drivers remains the best general-purpose, paper-bound guide for programmers wishing to make hardware devices work under the world's most popular open-source operating system. The authors take care to show how to write drivers that are portable--that is, that compile and run under all popular Linux platforms. That, along with the fact that they're careful to explain and illustrate concepts, makes this book very well suited to any programmer familiar with C but not with the hardware-software interface. It's worth noting that the emphasis in the title is on "device drivers" as much as "Linux." This book will make sense to you if you've never written a driver for any platform before. It helps if you have some Linux or Unix background, but even that is secondary as a prerequisite to C skill.

For a programming text--and one concerned with low-level instructions and data structures, at that--this book is remarkably rich in prose. You'll typically want to read this book straight through, more or less skipping the code samples, before sketching out your plan for the driver you need to write. Then, go back and pay closer attention to the sections on specific details you need to implement, like custom task queues. For coding-time details about specific system calls and programming techniques, count on the index to point you to the right passages. --David Wall

Topics covered: Techniques for writing hardware device drivers that run under Linux kernels 2.0.x through 2.2.x. Sections show how to manage memory, time, interrupts, ports, and other details of the hardware-software interface.

Professional Linux Kernel Architecture (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

Wolfgang Mauerer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

a Real Professional Book 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Excelent book, I still don't finish reading it but so far is the best book in the subject, period.

Editorial Review:

Find an introduction to the architecture, concepts and algorithms of the Linux kernel in Professional Linux Kernel Architecture, a guide to the kernel sources and large number of connections among subsystems. Find an introduction to the relevant structures and functions exported by the kernel to userland, understand the theoretical and conceptual aspects of the Linux kernel and Unix derivatives, and gain a deeper understanding of the kernel. Learn how to reduce the vast amount of information contained in the kernel sources and obtain the skills necessary to understand the kernel sources.