[colug-432] Reading Linux Books

[Steve Roggenkamp]

Please read the chapter in Kernighan and Pike's _The UNIX Programming
Environment_ about program development.  I think it's chapter 7.  It's
one of THE best chapters in software technical writing I've come
across.  In the space of about 55 pages, they cover using lex and yacc
to parse and analyze data input for a program, going from a simple
four function calculator to a  programming language complete with
functions in three or four major steps.  Along the way they take a
digression on using make to compile everything.

The chapter is data dense without being opaque.  There's plenty of
meat there along with complete source code.  You can type it all in
and it works.  Well, maybe you could.  The C language and the tools
have progressed in the 25 or so years since the book was first
published and some incompatibilities may have crept in.

The provide enough information for you to pick up the relatively
advanced tools and make use of them by the time you finish the first
part of the chapter, explaining how to make basic use of the tools.

Don't know if this is the type of information you're looking for, but
you might want to take a look at it as an example.

Steve

On 4/30/12, Joshua Kramer <joskra42.list at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Colugers,
>
> For those of you who read technical books about Linux, I pose a
> question. Suppose you are reading a book on subject matter, and that
> book also includes a project that illustrates the subject matter. What
> format would you prefer?
>
> a) 3-4 chapters, where the first half of each chapter explains the
> theory behind one aspect of the project, and the second half of the
> chapter explains how to recreate what I did.
>
> b) 3-4 chapters, each chapter covering the theory behind one aspect of
> the project, and a final chapter saying, "here's how I built this."
>
> Each component of the project can be done in and of itself, and
> applied to other projects.
>
> Thanks!
> -Josh
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