Why am I passionate about this?
I am a professional software developer and technical author, with a number of books published by O’Reilly and Prentice Hall. I have been working in the C / C++ / Unix / Linux world for over four decades. I am also the maintainer of the Free Software Foundation’s GNU Awk interpreter for the awk programming language. I have a passion for writing clear, correct, efficient, and portable code, and for applying the UNIX and Software Tools principles in my development. I hope that this book list will help you climb the learning curve of doing great Unix / Linux development.
Arnold's book list on for learning the Zen of Unix
Why did Arnold love this book?
This book (an update to Software Tools by the same authors) codifies and instructs the principles by which the Unix / Linux toolset was designed. It emphasizes clear, robust code, and the building of tools, reusable, general purpose software components that can be hooked together to solve many kinds of programming and data management tasks. The lessons it teaches are timeless, and the current generation of programmers would be well served to try and learn them.
The original Software Tools was perhaps the single most influential software book that I ever read. It taught me how to think with the Unix mindset, how to make the best use of what the Unix system (and now Linux) offers, and how to focus on readability and maintainability in my own software.
1 author picked Software Tools in Pascal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
With the same style and clarity that characterized their highly acclaimed The Elements of Programming Style and Software Tools, the authors have written Software Tools in Pascal to teach how to write good Pascal programs that make good tools. The programs contained in the book are not artificial, but are actual tools that have proved valuable in the production of other programs. Structured programming and top-down design are emphasized and applied to every program, as are principles of sound design, testing, efficiency, and portability. All of the programs are complete and have been tested directly from the text. The programs…
- Coming soon!