[ Thanks to David
Culp for this link. ]
“This is the companion volume to Beginning Linux Programming
from Wrox. I gave Beginning Linux Programming very high marks in my
review of it and believe it to be one of the best books to
introduce a programmer to Linux. Professional Linux Programming
takes off where Beginning Linux Programming left off. The topics
are more advanced and the book moves at a faster pace than
Beginning Linux Programming. You will also notice it is quite a bit
thicker, weighing in at over 1100 pages. Because of the huge amount
of information covered in the book I cannot possibly comment on
every topic presented, but will touch on the highlights.”
“This book takes a different approach in that it steps
through the development of a fictional application. The application
you will build is an interface for a DVD rental store. Chapter
one on application design covers how to plan an application from
the ground up. You first decide on the requirements of the
application. This is modeled as if you had done research in in the
real world by interviewing the store owner, observing the store in
action and interviewing customers. Once the requirements of the DVD
application are decided on work begins by developing an initial API
and data structures for the application. The chapter is a great
introduction to the art and science of planning an application. Way
too many times programmers sit down in front of the console with
only a limited idea of what their application needs to do and how
it should work. I know I have been guilty of it far more than I
care to admit to. Without careful planning an application quickly
becomes a mess of hacked together spaghetti code with a bad user
interface. Careful planning is just as important as good code,
maybe even more so as careful planning tends to lead to good code
design.”
“I highly recommended Beginning Linux Programming, I also give
two-thumbs up for its successor, Professional Linux Programming.
The book covers a lot of material but it does it throughly and
effectively. It is not recommended for those new to C/C++
programming or those new to Linux/Unix programming — for those, I
recommend Beginning Linux Programming.”