New book: "The Linux Programming Interface" [LWN.net]

From:		Travis Peterson <nostarchpr-AT-oreilly.com>
To:		lwn-AT-lwn.net
Subject:		The Linux Programming Interface--New from No Starch Press
Date:		Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:09:54 -0700
Message-ID:		<1285862994.19201.0.932772@post.oreilly.com>
Archive-link:		Article, Thread

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For Immediate Release
For more information, please contact:
Travis Peterson nostarchpr@oreilly.com or 415.863.9900 x300

The Linux Programming Interface--New from No Starch Press
The New, Definitive Linux and UNIX System Programming Handbook

San Francisco, CA, September 30, 2010--"The Linux Programming Interface" (No Starch Press, October
2010, 1552 pp., $99.95, ISBN 9781593272203) is the definitive guide to the Linux and UNIX
programming interface--the interface employed by nearly every application that runs on a Linux or
UNIX system. In this extraordinarily thorough work, Michael Kerrisk, longtime maintainer of the
Linux man-pages project, explains the "how and why" of using the hundreds of system calls and
library functions needed to master system programming. A large number of example programs, tables,
and diagrams round out the discussion.

It can be difficult and time-consuming to learn how to develop system programs for Linux. It's not
unusual for programmers to scour several manuals--or hundreds of web pages--before finding the
information they need. According to Michael Kerrisk, "'The Linux Programming Interface' is the book
I wanted when I first switched from UNIX to predominantly working in Linux more than a decade ago."
He added that it is "...a broad and deep system programming book that covers Linux-specific details
while also clearly delineating standard features available on all UNIX systems. Long before I
completed writing this book, it had already become my own primary system programming reference."

In "The Linux Programming Interface" readers learn how to:

- Read and write files efficiently
- Use signals, clocks, and timers
- Create processes and execute programs
- Write secure programs
- Write multithreaded programs using POSIX threads
- Build and use shared libraries
- Perform interprocess communication using pipes, message queues, shared memory, and semaphores
- Write network applications with the sockets API

No other book on the market offers the depth and breadth of "The Linux Programming Interface." This
is sure to become the go-to guide for anyone developing system applications for Linux and UNIX
platforms.

For more information or to request a review copy of The Linux Programming Interface, contact Travis
Peterson at No Starch Press (nostarchpr@oreilly.com, +1.415.863.9900, x300), or visit
www.nostarch.com.

About the Author
Michael Kerrisk has been using and programming UNIX systems for more than 20 years, and has taught
many week-long courses on UNIX system programming. Since 2004, he has maintained the man-pages
project (http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1z5va9v05g7vfj8p2q1hvcv9g55l...), which produces
the manual pages describing the Linux kernel and glibc programming APIs. He has written or
co-written more than 250 of the manual pages and is actively involved in the testing and design
review of new Linux kernel-userspace interfaces. Michael lives with his family in Munich, Germany.

Additional Resources
Chapter 4: "File I/O: The Universal I/O Model" (PDF):
http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zs8gl5kgir1s6ndb7vjg4qpfrd4...
Chapter 24: "Process Creation" (PDF):
http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zgq8sckm5h34eb7p5e7fl5it6v3...
Chapter 52: "POSIX Message Queues" (PDF):
http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zefci7fkjd54btqlfgjh79ufcha...
Table of Contents Overview: http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zlhkcbe631b75o1inifpv4nnh4m...
Detailed Table of Contents (PDF):
http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zkc5cv1potmudgaoqr6puscqr9h...
No Starch Press Catalog Page:
http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zjnmqeo2ttb5k14ps5fr9c9ko9b...
Author's Website: http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1za7sn66tbqnk57l4ppma956c7sd...

The Linux Programming Interface
by Michael Kerrisk
October 2010, 1552 pp
ISBN 9781593272203, $99.95 USD
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000

Available in fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or directly from No Starch
Press (http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zlj64b33vn6sd0jis3753dpasnm..., orders@nostarch.com,
1-800-420-7240).

About No Starch Press
Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few remaining independent computer book publishers.
We publish the finest in geek entertainment--unique books on technology, with a focus on open
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(Log in to post comments)

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Sep 30, 2010 21:36 UTC (Thu) by Cyberax (subscriber, #52523) [Link]

Doesn't feel great.

Look, there are tons of books about threads and signals. These features are ancient and quite well documented.

What I'd like to see is a book about Linux-specific things. Like /proc and /sys filesystems and their usage, /dev tree and udev, SELinux and programmatic interface for it (like ability to use security labels in your own app), DBUS, PolicyKit and so on.

A lot of system-level things are not covered at all. For example, who can name the path for X's local socket which is used by applications to connect to X server?

As far as I know, there is nothing like it. Personally, I subscribe to LWN because it's the _only_ site which covers these topics. LWN's archives were the greatest help for me when I had to do non-trivial system programming in Linux so I feel obliged to support it.

Hm. Maybe I should write one?

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 1:40 UTC (Fri) by ajd (guest, #58225) [Link]

Looking through the table of contents it seems to be about 90/10 split on "standard" stuff and Linux specific stuff. There's a chapter on /proc, one on capabilities, and some advanced I/O that is Linux specific.

I would also rather see more Linux specific items than what seems to be a rehash of AUP and UNP.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 7:01 UTC (Fri) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

And 90/10 is about the right ratio, I'd say. Like it or not, for many of us portability to Solaris at least really *is* still important, and that 90% is going to be where most of our attention is concentrated for some time to come.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 8:23 UTC (Fri) by Cyberax (subscriber, #52523) [Link]

But that's not the point.

There are good books about POSIX interface, but there is no good books about _Linux_ interface.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 5:14 UTC (Fri) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link]

Michael had a copy in Nuremberg, but he said there were some production problems which were delaying availability. It should be out sometime soon. Go to the gym and keep your upper-body strength up, though - that book is a real cinderblock.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 3, 2010 2:59 UTC (Sun) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link]

Looks like it's going to be a while yet:

Hello from Amazon.com.

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on September 30 2010 (Order# ***-*******-*******):
 
  Michael Kerrisk "The Linux Programming Interface: A Linux and UNIX System Programming Handbook"
    Estimated arrival date: November 08 2010 - January 31 2011

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 3, 2010 14:39 UTC (Sun) by michaelk (subscriber, #1978) [Link]

Looks like it's going to be a while yet:
Hello from Amazon.com. We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on September 30 2010 (Order# ***-*******-*******): Michael Kerrisk "The Linux Programming Interface: A Linux and UNIX System Programming Handbook" Estimated arrival date: November 08 2010 - January 31 2011

With a bit of luck, we may do better than that: http://blog.man7.org/2010/10/revised-publication-date.html

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 10:21 UTC (Fri) by RCL (guest, #63264) [Link]

So you kind of answered your own question.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 12:41 UTC (Fri) by dambacher (subscriber, #1710) [Link]

Sometimes you are slower to find the correct file and file position on an e-reader. Not to mention searching google search results for it ...

Grepping the bookshelf for a specially colored (and picutred) brick and then unfolding it at the (previously) marked position may be faster. And you can color mark on it. Try this with your e-reader.

/dambacher

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 12:49 UTC (Fri) by JFlorian (subscriber, #49650) [Link]

True enough, but a well linked document is much more efficient when you need to read related sections that aren't necessarily grouped together. That said, I have a Kindle and think it's wonderful for novels, but I would never dream of it for technical reference.

I want great technical books via a web service that has a reasonable annual reader price, like LWN. Further, the book should be living such that readers can provide improvements, corrections or updates and get compensated for their contributions. The author does the original work then he (or someone else) transitions into the master maintainer.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 22:04 UTC (Fri) by rstreeks (subscriber, #1018) [Link]

All e-readers are great for pleasure reading, but the screen is to small for reading documentation. You have to page back and forth to much if there is a figure referenced in the text.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 1, 2010 22:22 UTC (Fri) by dlang (✭ supporter ✭, #313) [Link]

this is one of the reasons I upgraded to the ~10" screen on the kindle DX.

still not as good as a 8x10 page, but a very significant step up from the 6" screen.

i still haven't made up my mind on the electronic vs paper for reference material.

the paper is much better for skimming through (although the new kindle DX with it's faster page turns may help here)

the paper is better if you are the type to remember approximately where something is and can flip though the pages until you recognize something.

the electronic is better if you have specific text you want to search for

the electronic is better because you can always have it with you (even a clumsy lookup that you can get to is better than an easy lookup that's several miles away)

the nice thing is that many publishers are making deals where you can get both for about the price of the paper copy (of the most recent two books that I've purchased, one gave me a free electronic copy, the other charged $4 for the electronic copy)

some books need color, but most do not, even most of the ones with charts and images.

New book: "The Linux Programming Interface"

Posted Oct 4, 2010 15:19 UTC (Mon) by fb (subscriber, #53265) [Link]

I also have a Kindle DX (the new graphite one). For technical and reference material my thoughts are as follows:

- paper is easier to skim through;
- it is harder to annotate something on an e-reader, but a lot easier to back-up/keep the notes afterwards
- the DX screen size is very often a perfect fit for PDFs of scientific articles.
- IMO Latex default fonts (i.e. Computer Modern) are particularly bad for the low resolution of e-readers
- for sequential reading, given the choice between my e-reader (with decent fonts) and a paper version, I normally prefer the e-reader.