books
Here is a list of the books that I have read or am in the process of reading - and what I think of them. Unfortunately this list is getting out of date as there are books that I have on my shelf and have just not had time to add to this list, unfortunately.
- Perl for the web
ISBN: 0-7357-1114-3
http://books.perl.org/book/152
This covers more information about making applications which are likely
to be called repeatedly from a webserver than application development.
- Perl for C programmers
ISBN: 0-7357-1228-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/073571228X
Subjects covered include basic OOP and structs, file system functions,
modules, inline c and GUIs. Quite a good read. This book came in second
condition and therefore is lacking a nice cover.
- The Complete Reference - Python
ISBN: 0-07-212718-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/007212718X
This is the only book in the 'complete reference' series that I have,
and I'm quite impressed. The book is close in format to the Black Book
series, covering functions and classes in depth. The book opens with a
comparison of Python to over languages which is good if the reader is
unfamiliar to the language. Threads, network programming and GUI is also
covered. Do not be daunted by the book's physical size as the paper is
quite thick.
- Advanced UNIX Programming
ISBN: 0-13-141154-3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131411543
Positively the best book on UNIX programming that I have read. It's
packed full of knowledge. This is more of an encyclopaedia of
information than a regular text book. The reader should have some
foundation of C before attempting to read this, but then who picks up a
book on 'Advanced UNIX Programming' without expecting that? From the
beginning this book taught me things that I was not aware of and
continues throughout the book. Highly recommended. I seriously advise
the buyer invests 10 minutes to cover this with a clear sticky back
plastic as you will have this book open for weeks before closing
it.
- UNIX Internals A practical approach
ISBN: 0-201-87721-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/020187721x
This book is great. It contains all the structures and information
required to get coding for a SCO kernel. Although the cover states that
this book is for SCO, don't let that put you off. At almost every chance
the author states where code is SCO specific.
I've read many books
on unix and linux and this is by far one of the best, you should not be
afraid to get your sleeves rolled up for this book, and that's what
makes it such a great read.
- Linux game programming
ISBN: 0-7615-3255-2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761532552
Well, it's not as bad as the other reviews make out only if you have no
idea how to start programming a game in Linux. I suppose the content
would be better put into a shorter how-to (if one does not already exist
that is). I had no idea how to start writing a game in Linux, didn't
know where to start, but there are some basic guidelines in this. The
book covers some very basic theory such as game loops and very basic AI
principles.
- The UNIX programming environment
ISBN: 0-13-937681-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/013937681X
The issue which I have is a little out dated compared to the one now
advertised on Amazon with same ISBN. Topics covered such as shell and C
programming. Covers mainly what the programmer needs to keep in mind for
user space programming.
- BSD Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-00679-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596006799
This book covers a lot of topics in short, many of the hacks are user
contributed. Listing all the topics here would take too much space. This
book would be ideal for a new system admin. Most of the system admin
features that a linux user migrating to BSD is after are covered in this
book.
- Linux - I didn't know you could do that...
ISBN: 0-7821-2612-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/078212612X
Worst book ever. Very little technical substance.
- For dummies - Linux Programming
ISBN: 0-7645-0691-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764506919
Second worst book ever. Very basic shell scripting guide.
- C++: Black book
ISBN: 1-57610-777-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576107779
Quite a good read. Seriously good information in this book. Most of the
focus is on C++ objects. File handling, pointers, overloading, operators
etc are all covered in depth.
- Java 2: Black book
ISBN: 1-58880-097-0
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1588800970
This book was bought for me some time ago when I was studying Java at
college (1999). The most notable things which have changed from Java 2
tto 5.0 are Date and typed ArrayLists (and some Swing). But most remains
the same. This is without any doubt the largest book on my shelf.
Remains excellent and I have read from cover to cover twice now!
- C Programming - A modern approach
ISBN: 0-393-96945-2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393969452
I rate this book closely to Advanced UNIX programming. I advise that
anyone who plans to read AUP purchase this book first as important parts
of AUP require prior C knowledge. Most important features covered are
linked lists, structs, file IO and pointers.
- Fundametals of Electronics
ISBN: pre ISBN
Really technical book, degree level material.
- Engineering problem solving with ANSI C
ISBN: 0-13-061607-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130616079
This is somewhere between a book on engineering and c. The actual C is
intended for someone who is familiar with computers and maths. This book
was originally purchased as I wanted some engineering knowledge, believe
it or not, it caught my eye.
- Turbo C++ programmers guide
ISBN: no ISBN
This covers most of the features of the TurboC++ compiler and streams.
Not much to note though. Sadly TurboC++, buy today's standards is not a
brilliant compiler but this book is very old, I've had it an age.
- C++ for dummies
ISBN: 1-56884-163-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568841639
This covers some surprisingly intermediate concepts of C++. I purchased
this in 1994 after TurboC++ programmers guide, at the time this made a
lot more sense. I can't count the number of times that I was going
between the IDE and this book. Almost everything you need to get coding
C++ is covered in this book, all be-it beginner or intermediate
level.
- C for dummies
ISBN: 1-56884-915-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/156884915X
This does what it says on the cover, it's C for dummies, but ... not
everything that is c, it's what a dummy needs to know.
- Visual C++ 6.0 programmers guide
ISBN: 1-57231-866-X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/157231866X
This really is just for those who need to know how to use the various
parts of the IDE. There are some sections in the book which are not
directly related the IDE, but these are few and far between. One thing
to note is that the code style influenced me slightly, I used to write
functionname(&ptr,x,g,j), however, the general style in this book I
found helps code legibility, functionname( &ptr, x, g, j ), isn't that
just more useful?
- Absolute OpenBSD: UNIX for the practical paranoid
ISBN: 1-886411-99-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1886411999
Absolute OpenBSD coveres some very unique features of OpenBSD, such as
secure levels and pf. There are some good examples of firewalls at the
end of the book. One interesting chapter in this book covers compiling
your own bsd kernel, which is something that is not covered in depth
anywhere that I know of.
- Practical UNIX & Internet Security (2nd edition)
ISBN: 1-56592-148-8
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596003234
For a 900-page document this book did not keep me occupied for too long.
It might be that most of the text is common place, some obvious and old
flaws are discussed along with mediocre system security such as file
permissions, pid owners etc, and some basic ipv4/ports.
- Managing AFS - Andrew File System
ISBN: 0-13-802729-3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0138027293
Unfortunately I have not had time to read this book cover to cover like
the rest. Building a file store network is something which takes much
time, especially when you have to meadle with the kernel modules time
and time again so that the afs module is up-to-date with the rest of the
kernel (dpkg can help, but it's still a chore). There are many points
that must be covered with AFS, all explained there in. Had I ordered
from Amazon and not one of the shops I would have had it sooner.
- Building firewalls with OpenBSD and PF 2nd Edt
ISBN: 83-916651-1-9
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/8391665119
Brilliant book that covers everything you need for a single node
firewall. Certain things could be covered in further depth though such
as CARP/pfsync and route-to/reply-to which are required for building
larger corporate firewalls. That aside this book is tops, highly
recommended for anyone who wants to be a firewall admin.
- The origin of species
ISBN: 1904633781
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Origin-Species-Collectors-Library/dp/1904633781 W
This book was revolutionary when it was originally released. Charles Dawin cites many sources throughout the book which makes it feel more like a review of other work, but it's still a brilliant read if you're ever curious about the current theories about evolution. Some really interesting subjects are covered.
- The selfish gene
ISBN: 019857519X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selfish-Gene-Richard-Dawkins/dp/019857519X W
Richard Dawkins makes reading about evolution extremely interesting. I cannot put it in words just how clearly the facts are put forward with such brilliant logic that makes one really think with every paragraph. The writing style is also fantastic.
- The Apache Modules Book: Application Development with Apache (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development) (Paperback)
ISBN: 0132409674
https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0132409674
Nick Kew makes a very good introduction to building Apache modules, but I'm not so fond of the copy of RFC2616 at the rear of the book, I personally think this space could have gone towards something a little more useful like some other examples of modules or coding style, or maybe even using a different language to make modules. Who knows. This point is moot however, as all developers of anything to do with web software should know this RFC very well. Aside from this, I keep this book on my self along side Advanced UNIX programming. Prentice Hall seem to publish very good books. Well done Nick Kew.
- Pluggable Authentication Modules
ISBN: 9781904811329
https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904811329
Yet to finish reading this book gives a good deal of information on how to hook into the PAM system.
- Crypto
ISBN: 0140244328
https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140244328
This tells the history of the cryptographic evolution and how it's saved online shopping as we know it today, with an interesting twist at the end that shows the origin of the RSA algorithm that lies behind the most popular SSL protocol.
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