Product: 013147751X

I started dabbling with linux last year after a problem installing software caused my Windows XP system to crash, requiring a rather time consuming re-install. Coupled with the numerous security concerns and performance issues, as well as an interest in learning how to program, I decided to switch over to linux.

Switching from linux is not an easy process, but if you want to learn about the ins and outs of that machine on your desk, running Linux will help.

That is where this book comes in. This book is less about troubleshooting/recipe book per se, but a book that integrates often separated areas from a good computer science curriculum–operating system concepts, hw/OS interaction, software engineering, and the lost art of debugging.

The author goes into extensive detail about the linux system, how to use built in tools such as the GCC compilers, the GDB (GNU debugger), and even how to read C source code, and how that C source gets translated into assembly. He also describes how different assembly optimizations can make debugging difficult.

Further detail is discussed in the chapters devoted to the memory heap and the memory stack, where high level programming constructs are mapped into the actual hardware registries, and the host of things that can go wrong.

If you are a serious C hacker/hobbiest like me, or a paranoid security professional, then this book is a must.
Rating: 5
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