Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 08:08:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Rodney Salomon <rstunna1@yahoo.com> To: Tom <tsasser@terra.cl>, freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: learning on our own Message-ID: <20030519150843.45299.qmail@web20309.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <200305170135.28855.tsasser@terra.cl>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Thanks, ill definitely look into this book! --- Tom <tsasser@terra.cl> wrote: > hi all, > > i just read the FreeBSD Newbies FAK again. something > came to mind about a book > that i have been reading. > > there is a book called _Understanding Unix/Linux > Programming: A Guide to > Theory and Practice_. it was written by Bruce > Molay. it covers unix system > programming from the beginning system programmer's > perspective. > > generally, a book like this is not for newbies. it > does require that you have > some experience with the c programming language. > so, why do i mention this? > > this book is absolutely BEAUTIFUL for learning the > Unix Way. it introduces > basic system programming concepts by showing the > reader how to write common > unix programs like ls. in my opinion, understanding > the building blocks of > unix is essential for understanding how to get unix > to behave in a way that > you like. > > what i find so neat about the book is that it > teaches you how to ask questions > of unix...and get the answers. you literally learn > how to research a problem > with this book. it divides up the problems up as > follows: 1) "what does the > unix program do?" ( like ls ), 2) "how does the > program ls do it?" and 3) > "can i write ls?" this is great because he shows > you how to investigate the > problem and find the answer on the system--usually > through reading the online > manuals and observing the behavior of the program. > > remember, computers are dumber than blades of grass! > but, if programmed > properly, they will tell you what they want. so, if > you are seeing an error > on the screen, it's really telling you what it > wanted ( but it may look like > gibberish ). it's up to you to reseach the > "gibberish" in order to solve the > problem. that means you actually have to read the > error ( sometimes even > save it )...because there may be keywords in the > error that you can use in > your search. > > needless to say, being able to investigate a problem > and build your own answer > is essential in unix...regardless of the > problem...from web servers to > configuring a boot loader. as i go through the book > and look at the > problems, i go through this procedure...and i learn > more about what goes on > behind the scenes. reading the online help ( > man-pages ) is humbling, but > you really start to get a feel for how unix works. > > i HIGHLY recommend that most newbies at least read > the first several chapters. > you will become familiar with the paradigm. skip > the code if you have to; > you can also just read the program comments. the > goal is to understand how > to research a problem, not necessarily code in c. > molay puts lots of > comments in the code, so you won't get lost. > > i cannot stress this point enough: if you use the > problem solving techniques > shown in this book, you can solve any problem that > you come across on your > bsd system. > > good luck and happy hacking! > > --tom > > GAIM: cREbralFIX > yahoo messenger: cREbralFIX > www.linuxtechies.org ( yes, one of them! ) > > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-newbies > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-newbies-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" ===== Look at all the pretty C shells! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20030519150843.45299.qmail>