As I was growing tired of the endless number of technical books that do nothing but throw useless code examples at you, I literally went looking for a book that was different. I wanted a book that showed the philosophy of programming, the culture of programmers... I was looking for wisdom, not fact. The Psalm that says that if you search, you will find, quite literally came true. I have discovered The Art of UNIX Programming. Beautiful book. It was written by Eric S. Raymond, and contributed to by Brian Kernighan (author, The C Programming Language ), Ken Thompson (UNIX), and numerous other influential pioneers. It is in print, but the authors have also released it on the WWW: http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ Please, take a look. ================== Benjamin Heath ================== [edited by - Benjamin Heath on November 7, 2003 3:40:06 PM]

I read this book online when ESR posted it for "beta-testing" (for lack of a better term) before it was published.

I did find it an excellent book overall. Having programmed in a ''Nix environment a lot I found some of the chapters a little boring. I don''t remember which chapters, but I believe that they were dealing with specific tools (like GNU Make, or source managament tools). The chapters were written well, just a little too much "I know that already", so someone with a little less knowledge about them would find it handy and interesting.

I especially liked the chapters that talked about the UNIX philosphy of programming and software design in general.

I don''t believe that an experienced UNIX programmer would get a whole lot out of the book, but less experienced programmers, and Windows programmers moving to UNIX, would find it almost invaluable. (And the price is right

debaere: That''s why it''s important. Many of these people are nearing retirement, so it was very important for a book like this -- one about philosophy and even about fun -- to be written for these new generations. Things would be like a "dangling pointer" if it hadn''t been. And hey, the best thing about a book (most books, anyway) is that you don''t have to read all of it. This book is surely on par with all the other great literary works of the programming world.

BTW: I have at last located The Art of Computer Programming in print at a store. It''s the first three volumes for around $150. Time to spend a paycheck... (sigh)



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Benjamin Heath
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Also see The UNIX Philosophy by Michael Gancarz. Probably out of print, though. Check a (university) library.

Yes, it is a really good book. I think that Windows programmers would do good reading it too.

Btw, I always thought the "official" version was here: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/.

I have also finally purchased The C Programming Language. Great book. Much smaller than I thought it would be. I'm keeping it by my computers at all times now.



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Benjamin Heath
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[edited by - Benjamin Heath on November 9, 2003 2:11:06 AM]

ESR''s site is always fun to read as well, but when I heard about his new book on The Linux Show, I knew it was one that I had to get.

Knowing it is available online as well is a nice bonus, but I didn''t know it was part of a three volume set. Time to Google. B-)

quote: Original post by GBGames
Knowing it is available online as well is a nice bonus, but I didn''t know it was part of a three volume set. Time to Google. B-)

Hmm? No no, I was talking about a boxset for The Art of Computer Programming. The Art of Unix Programming is something completely different. And yeah, I heard about the book from Linux World Magazine.

That''s another thing, I''m finally getting AOCP tomorrow. Man I can''t wait!



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Benjamin Heath
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I have it! I have it! I have The Art of Computer Programming!

and it''s so boring...



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Benjamin Heath
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lol