Linux Applications Programming by Example: The Fundamental APIs (2nd Edition)(github.com)

110 pointsby teleforce12 hours ago2 comments

discarded102311 hours ago
For those looking for a broader/more portable introduction, Xavier Leroy and Didier Rémy wrote a great high-level text on UNIX system programming a long time ago [1]. Of course it uses ocaml (perhaps motivating some to learn that language) but the style is low-level and straightforwardly imperative. The advantage is that it sweeps up a lot of the messy and boring error handling into the ocaml runtime and/or exceptions. This makes the code a lot easier to follow, but of course makes it look misleadingly simpler than it would be in C (etc).
[1] https://ocaml.github.io/ocamlunix/
- jacobgeorge0811 hours ago
  Thanks! I just started the OCaml Programming Book this week to learn and language and get better at functional programming. Cant wait to jump into this after
- up2isomorphism8 hours ago
  Why would someone want to learn Unix Programming using OCAML? Not a smart choice. Also this does not look easier to read than a shell script either.
  let rec copy_rec source dest = let infos = lstat source in match infos.st_kind with | S_REG -> file_copy source dest; set_infos dest infos | S_LNK -> let link = readlink source in symlink link dest | S_DIR -> mkdir dest 0o200; Misc.iter_dir (fun file -> if file <> Filename.current_dir_name && file <> Filename.parent_dir_name then copy_rec (Filename.concat source file) (Filename.concat dest file)) source; set_infos dest infos | _ -> prerr_endline ("Can't cope with special file " ^ source)
  - hrmtst93837an hour ago
    OCaml is a weird teaching choice for broad Unix programming, but it makes more sense than bash once the code stops being toy-sized and starts touching files, processes, and error paths in more than one place. Shell scripts let typos turn into state changes, and C gives you the usual memory footguns.
    That snippet is ugly. Cleaner OCaml is easier to maintain than the average bash blob if you care more about finding mistakes before prod than saving ten minutes on ML syntax.
NewsaHackO11 hours ago
Is there an actual book available?
- fuzzybear396511 hours ago
  Yes. Look at the README.
  https://www.informit.com/store/linux-application-development...
  - NewsaHackO11 hours ago
    Of course, I saw that, but if the text of the book is not freely available, then the examples wouldn't really be helpful, no?
    chii6 hours ago
    So buy the book? The expectation of free stuff is all too common.
    remix2000an hour ago
    Or perhaps maybe rather free stuff is all too uncommon…
    NewsaHackO6 hours ago
    Regardless, a link to a repo of disjointed examples is not very interesting or helpful.
    tad_tough_anne2 hours ago
    If you don't wanna pay, Library Genesis has the first edition (2004), but, if you didn't find the examples to be at least modestly interesting in themselves, is this even your bag? As a Linux sysadmin and occasional writer of lousy C programs, I often consult NetBSD's source tree for when I want good examples that aren't as complex as GNU's, so I expect to come back to these.
    Judging by the publisher's sample,[1] the second edition (2025) looked like a worthwhile upgrade, so I ordered it. Much of the material is in the manpages, but this presents it with better explanations.
    ___
    1. <https://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/9780135325520/samplep...>
- Joel_Mckay3 hours ago
  Linux is rarely a porting issue for C++ or python: https://wxwidgets.org/
  Static linking libraries for MacOS or Windows is contaminated by GPL/LGPL code, and this is why wxwidgets excludes the disclosure requirement.
  Also, if you are looking for a VueJS cross-platform GUI framework for most Desktop and Mobile platforms (modern MacOS hardware and developer account is a requirement):
  https://github.com/quasarframework/quasar
  Qt5/Qt6 frameworks sooner or later cause more problems than they solve, and require a lot more maintenance/support.
  Best of luck =3