Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment

Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment is a <a href="/facts/Computer_programming/QmSsFnu0">computer programming</a> book by <a href="/facts/W._Richard_Stevens/t5hCDFb3">W. Richard Stevens</a> describing the <a href="/facts/Application_programming_interface/GMlN4vUr">application programming interface</a> of the <a href="/facts/UNIX/0pNL2seI">UNIX</a> family of <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating systems</a>. The book illustrates UNIX <a href="/facts/Application_software/YQuj7Kog">application</a> programming in the <a href="/facts/C_/Ky2No763">C programming language</a>.
The first edition of the book was published by <a href="/facts/Addison-Wesley/A7UFATEG">Addison-Wesley</a> in 1992. It covered programming for the two popular families of the Unix operating system, the <a href="/facts/Berkeley_Software_Distribution/XQKcURrh">Berkeley Software Distribution</a> (in particular 4.3 BSD and 386BSD) and AT&T's <a href="/facts/UNIX_System_V/Epm6GEY4">UNIX System V</a> (particularly SVR4). The book covers <a href="/facts/System_call/NW44AFJr">system calls</a> for operations on single <a href="/facts/File_descriptor/Iw74UKqG">file descriptors</a>, special calls like <a href="/facts/Ioctl/119Wrsz9">ioctl</a> that operate on file descriptors, and operations on files and directories. It covers the <a href="/facts/Stdio.h/m5n82Fqz">stdio</a> section of the <a href="/facts/C_standard_library/qdG1nW2c">C standard library</a>, and other parts of the library as needed. The several chapters concern the APIs that control <a href="/facts/Process_(computing)/Vcq7EnUV">processes</a>, <a href="/facts/Process_group/Bg9HyAlB">process groups</a>, <a href="/facts/Daemon_(computing)/bzuEVGGX">daemons</a>, <a href="/facts/Inter-process_communication/cIQYyT6y">inter-process communication</a>, and <a href="/facts/Signal_(computing)/IN6VK6r8">signals</a>. One chapter is devoted to the Unix terminal control and another to the <a href="/facts/Pseudo_terminal/CV9rjfhz">pseudo terminal</a> concept and to libraries like <a href="/facts/Termcap/qQhA1RYN">termcap</a> and <a href="/facts/Curses_(programming_library)/IdMt3bH8">curses</a> that build atop it. Stevens adds three chapters giving more concrete examples of Unix programming: he implements a database library, communicates with a <a href="/facts/PostScript/h2XwbcmC">PostScript</a> printer, and with a modem. The book does not cover network programming: this is the subject of Stevens's 1990 book UNIX Network Programming and his subsequent three-volume <a href="/facts/TCP/IP_Illustrated/kSudSD7V">TCP/IP Illustrated</a>.
Stevens died in 1999, leaving a second edition incomplete. With the increasing popularity and technical diversification of Unix derivatives, and largely compatible systems like the <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a> environment, the code and coverage of Stevens's original became increasingly outdated. Working with Stevens's unfinished notes, Stephen A. Rago completed a second edition which Addison-Wesley published in 2005. This added support for <a href="/facts/FreeBSD/RKsFTm7F">FreeBSD</a>, Linux, Sun's <a href="/facts/Solaris_(operating_system)/KPfT98EJ">Solaris</a>, and Apple's <a href="/facts/Darwin_(operating_system)/DogI3ptd">Darwin</a>, and added coverage of multithreaded programming with <a href="/facts/POSIX_Threads/S8oH6pI9">POSIX Threads</a>. The second edition features a foreword by <a href="/facts/Dennis_Ritchie/I1yu1UWU">Dennis Ritchie</a> and a Unix-themed <a href="/facts/Dilbert/YSh42bzo">Dilbert</a> strip by <a href="/facts/Scott_Adams/ME5ljQxA">Scott Adams</a>.
The book has been widely lauded as well written, well crafted, and comprehensive. It received a "hearty recommendation" in a <a href="/facts/Linux_Journal/m7rosgex">Linux Journal</a> review.
<a href="/facts/OSNews/3unFthQ4">OSNews</a> describes it as "one of the best tech books ever published" in a review of the second edition.

Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment open-in-new

Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment