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For use with all versions of Linux, including Ubuntu,™ Fedora,™ openSUSE,™ Red Hat,® Debian, Mandriva, Mint, and now OS X, too! Get more done faster, and become a true Linux guru by mastering the command line! Learn from hundreds of realistic, high-quality examples NEW! Coverage of the Mac OS X command line and its unique tools NEW! Expert primer on automating tasks with Perl The Most Useful Linux Tutorial and Reference, with Hundreds of High… More >>
A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming
Tags: Commands, Editors, Guide, Linux, Practical, Programming, Shell
Recently I was fortunate to receive a sample copy of this book publishers Hall Prentice and are pleased to present this review. I found this very large volume (1008 pages!) To be very interesting and a valuable source of information for both Linux newbies and veterans. As the title suggests, covers some of the most used Linux commands, the two top editors (Emacs, Vim), and some programming techniques shell and the tcsh shell. I found it to be quite “distro-neutral, since the material submitted must be available on any Linux system, and tools specific reference distribution. The book seems very well organized in parts and chapters, and there are also some excellent appendices on supplementary material for the end of the book, which I will discuss later in this review.
Part I is entitled “The Linux operating system, and starts with some introductory” welcome “and “Getting Started” material that is a good read for beginners, but can be easily ignored by others. In the next chapter of this section explains how to use the most often used commands such as ls, cp, rm, and tar. This is followed by a chapter on Linux file systems, including the hierarchical arrangement, directories, routes, permissions on files and links. There is a nice section in this chapter that describes what is found in almost all standard directories such as / boot, / etc, / home, / usr, and so on. notable here was an excellent description of how to set up (and understand!) permissions for files and directories. The last chapter of this part is an introduction to the shell command line. It covers standard input / output redirection pipes, and the commands in the background. Most of the information in these first five chapters, probably will make a fix for Linux users with more experience, but they stopped reading for newcomers. Something I have noted as a major feature of the book is that there is a Contents “to the end of each chapter, which is really excellent, and a list of” exercises “to help you view and use information in a more on hands .
Part II is simply called “The editors, and devotes about 60 pages each of Vim and Emacs. A brief history of each is provided, and a very good tutorial on basic use you walk through. referance Both chapters include a command / summary and some suggestions for customization. The famous “debate” about which editor to use is mentioned, but did not indicate their preference. For the record, this writer prefers Vim. .. J More in-depth books available to each editor to explain in more detail, but these chapters provide an introductory lesson.
Part III contains two chapters, one each for “bash and” tcsh. Some of the procedures and concepts in this part could be more information than is desired by many users of Linux, but the command line type you want to read all this material. The difference between these two shells are discussed and the fact that most users only need to learn bash, as is usually the default shell on most modern Linux distributions. I found some good information about customizing the shell and using the dot “files “how.” bash_profile e. bashrc to control things like aliases and environment variables.
Part IV refers to “programming tools.” The first chapter describes the programming here in C, including the fundamentals of the gcc compiler, using shared libraries, debugging procedures, system calls, and source code management (CVS). It should be noted that this chapter describes the process of writing and compiling programs in C, but not intended to teach programming in C, if it is not most understand. In the next chapter (11) is a very big debate (100 pages) of the schedule with the shell. Covers control structures, parameters, variables, loops, arrays, expressions, functions and built-in commands. Several examples were shown to assist with understanding the concepts. I would recommend this chapter in particular for those who want to increase their ability to write effective shell scripts for system administration. The last two chapters of Part IV cover the gawk “and” thirst “for public services that are essential for word processing and shell scripts advanced. Once again, there are many excellent examples, since in practice help in understanding the material, followed by some exercises to put new knowledge to work. This should be required reading for any system administrator.
, Part V is the section Command Reference. This is a very complete reference (240 pages) on the use of virtually all public services and the internal order of the Linux shell, “a” to “xargs”. The design for each command is presented in the form of a manual page, but much more readable and excellent notes and examples that are not in one page. All options are well explained and there is extensive use of tables and summaries. This may be the most useful part of the whole book, and serves as a major upgrade of the veterans, and a nice learning process for beginners. The material here is presented in “plain English” that helps a lot.
The rest of the book consists of three appendices, a glossary and an index. Appendix A is an excellent introduction to regular expressions, a little known but an important skill for system administrators to do it. Spend some time to read this. Appendix B is called simply “Help”, and outlines the wide range of resources available to help a Linux user. useful sites on the list, and mailing lists and newsgroups described. Appendix C on the final touches to keep the system up to date, but is rather limited to discuss the Yum “and” apt utility. This could be a bit “better, including some additional tools distro, and / or more general ideas for the update. The last two sections of the book are a glossary and an index of 50 pages to 50 pages, both seem fairly complete.
In general I found that this book is excellent, and has earned a spot on the front of my library. It covers the real “guts” of Linux – the command line and utilities, and does it very well. It’s strengths are the use of outstanding examples, and the console. Highly recommended for Linux users of all levels. Congratulations to Mark Sobell and Prentice Hall for this outstanding book!
Rating: 5 / 5
For some people know how to do something through a graphical interface is similar to driving without the knowledge as an engine, transmission, etc. work together to operate the machine. To obtain your command line and do things that either the GUI or do not allow the way I want to do is a matter of pride and represents the dividing line between a user and an advanced user. If you want to become a real Linux guru and know how the command line to do what he wants including commands, editing, shell programming, scripts and this is one of the best books available. Readable and straightforward, education is a unique reference that combines the educational aspect of a book for learning typical of Linux with a typical book of command line references. A Practical Guide to Linux is highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
I found this book very understandable. I have no experience with Linux, but I was writing scripts without any difficulty.
Rating: 4 / 5
As a newcomer to Unix and Linux, I just need a reference for me to be productive enough to be carried out without depending on others. The book has allowed me to do this. I read the other comments about how the book for beginners and advanced users. I borrowed two books before buying this. This is the only one I use.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a very nice book for novice Unix users.
The book puts everything in perspective and context. It begins with a brief history of Linux / Unix / GNU and the relationship between them.
‘S also a very comprehensive book. It covers the main commands, editors, shell programming, et al. etc.
The good thing (especially for the beginner of people) is that there are plenty of examples and a description of what he does. The examples are very useful. Because a large number of examples of using various commands in this book can also be viewed as a cookbook can also be given task E. g. command line interface.
So this book is not a big man printed pages (lots of books and other).
; A small disadvantage is that this book needs some updating. E. g. CVS is covered but not the emergence of Subversion. Maybe a good idea to include subversion in the next edition.
Rating: 5 / 5