Linux Applications Programming by Example: The Fundamental APIs

Unlock the Secrets of Linux System Programming and Take Your Coding Skills to the Next Level

• Do you use Linux, but not really understand it?
• Have you ever wondered how ls -l’ knows everything it does?
• Could you explain to a coworker why ls’ and find’ can be external commands but cd’ and umask’ must be built into the shell?

The answers to these questions, and more, are in Linux Application Programming by Example, Second Edition. Purposely avoiding Too Much Information (TMI) this book tells you exactly what you need to know--no more and no less--about the fundamental Linux system programming APIs.

Following the latest POSIX standard, author Arnold Robbins explains how the basic file, process, IPC and networking APIs work. Wherever possible, he demonstrates the use of the APIs with code drawn from real programs (V7 Unix, BSD Unix, and GNU). When not possible, the author provides small, clearly documented and annotated, standalone example programs of his own.

The author focuses on both high-level principles and ＂under the hood＂ techniques. Along the way, he carefully addresses real-world issues like performance, portability, and robustness.

Each chapter closes with exercises, ranging from coding problems to thought experiments, to help you cement your understanding of the material covered. And each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated for this edition, and two completely new chapters have been added.

All of the code presented in the book is available for download from GitHub, so that you can compile, run, and modify the programs yourself.

Coverage includes:

• Memory management
• File I/O
• File metadata
• Processes, Users and groups
• Sorting and searching
• Argument parsing
• Extended interfaces
• Signals
• Internationalization
• Basic Networking
• Debugging
• And more! . . .

Just learning to program? Switching from Windows or macOS? Already developing with Linux but interested in exploring the system call interface further? No matter which, quickly and directly, this book will help you master the fundamentals needed to build serious Linux software.

If you’re ready to leave the cocoon of high-level language programming and get closer to the metal, this book is for you!

Arnold Robbins is an Atlanta native, currently living is Israel. He works as a professional software engineer and technical author. Arnold has been working with Unix systems of various sorts, GNU/Linux systems, C, C++ and all the other major Unix tools since 1980. As a long-time volunteer for the GNU project, he has been the maintainer of GAWK (GNU Awk) for many years. He was on the balloting committee for the original POSIX Shell and Utilities standard in the early 1990s and helped to shape the POSIX standard for awk (and a few other things).