Product: 0201308215

(This review is for the second edition)

If you’re involved in trying to port software to a Unix/Linux application platform, you should get a copy of the 2nd edition of Linux Application Development by Michael K. Johnson and Erik W. Troan (Addison Wesley). This will become a key part of your learning.

Chapter Breakout:

Part 1 - Getting Started - History Of Linux Development; Licenses And Copyright; Online System Documentation

Part 2 - Development Tools And Environment - Development Tools; gcc Options And Extensions; The GNU C Library; Memory Debugging Tools; Creating And Using Libraries; Linux System Environment

Part 3 - System Programming - The Process Model; Simple File Handling; Signal Processing; Advanced File Handling; Directory Operations; Job Control; Terminals And Pseudo Terminals; Networking With Sockets; Time; Random Numbers; Programming Virtual Consoles; The Linux Console; Writing Secure Programs

Part 4 - Development Libraries - String Matching; Terminal Handling With S-Lang; A Hashed Database Library; Parsing Command-Line Options; Dynamic Loading At Run Time; User Identification And Authentication

Appendix A - Header Files; Appendix B - ladsh Source Code; Glossary; Bibliography; Index

With the recent rapid uptake of Linux-based servers and desktops, more and more companies are looking at porting their software from Windows platforms over to Linux. The trouble with porting in that instance is that the underlying operating system dependancies are all different, and unless you understand how to work with the OS, you’re lost. Linux Application Development does an excellent job in first introducing the common tools that are used for application development on Linux. The assumption is that you’ll be programming in C, but within that framework the authors explain each tool and how it can aid in developing your system (such as memory-checking tools that come with the GNU C library). Once the subject of application development environments is finished, they move on to the actual OS and how it should interface with the application. The book presents a lot of code for examples, as well as explaining exactly why things work as they do. By the time you’ve gotten to the end of the material, you should have a more-than-adequate understanding of how to build applications for Linux/Unix.

Excellent material for the application developer who needs to build on the Linux platform…
Rating: 4
0201308215
Count: 12