sarah@laticorp.UUCP (05/26/87)
I'm looking for recommendations for good reference books on DOS. Specifically I'm looking for books that are designed for programmers who are familiar with other operating systems but are new to DOS. The book(s) should go beyond a dry recitation of DOS commands (I can get that from the user manual); what I really need is to be able to get a feel for how to think in DOS. I'm a software engineer with many years of experience in Unix and C, but little knowledge of DOS. So far the books I've found seem to be geared either towards the rank beginner or towards clever but non-portable patches. Thanks in advance! Sarah Groves Hobart
psfales@ihlpe.UUCP (05/27/87)
In article <129@laticorp.UUCP>, sarah@laticorp.UUCP (Sarah Groves Hobart) writes: > I'm looking for recommendations for good reference books on DOS. > Specifically I'm looking for books that are designed for programmers > who are familiar with other operating systems but are new to DOS. > The book(s) should go beyond a dry recitation of DOS commands (I can > get that from the user manual); what I really need is to be able to > get a feel for how to think in DOS. A top-notch book I have is "Advanced MS-DOS" by Ray Duncan and published by Microsoft Press. It is slanted a little toward Microsoft products (the chapter on programming tools discusses MASM, Microsoft C, CREF, LINK, and LIB), but most topics are applicable to any software development. Other chapters discuss Disk Internals, Subdirectories, Memory Allocation, and writing Device Drivers. All illustrated with well commented examples. -- Peter Fales UUCP: ...ihnp4!ihlpe!psfales work: (312) 979-7784 AT&T Information Systems, IW 1Z-243 1100 E. Warrenville Rd., IL 60566
doug@edge.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (06/02/87)
> I'm looking for recommendations for good reference books on DOS. > Specifically I'm looking for books that are designed for programmers > who are familiar with other operating systems but are new to DOS. I presume you mean "using DOS function calls, etc." as opposed to using DOS commands. I recommend the one from Microsoft Press. It's certainly the most accurate one I've seen. Not quite as tutorial as you might like. So I'd recommend (as a supplement to the above) the one by Peter Norton. This one is a lot more tutorial. Warning: Norton is often incorrect in his explanations of "why something is the way it is." His examples often work only through pure chance. In any question of detail, the Microsoft book should be considered the authority. [Both of the above books are 8-1/2 by 11", about an inch thick. I'm sorry I don't remember the titles; I haven't worked with PCs in a while.] There is also an official DOS Technical Reference Manual (or some such title) which is available in the half-size binder format. It's okay, I guess. But absolutely no tutorial stuff there at all. In addition to the DOS functions, you will probably want BIOS info (mainly for keyboard/video functions). The Norton book provides tutorial info on this, and for authoritative descriptions you should get the "PC Technical Reference Manual", which is an IBM publication which comes in one of those half-size binders. It contains the assembly listing of the BIOS ROMs (which contains comments detailing each BIOS function call). If money's a limitation and you can only get one book, the Norton book is a good compromise. But remember that there are some mistakes in that book. Don't take it as gospel by any means, okay? -- Doug Pardee, Edge Computer Corp; ihnp4!mot!edge!doug, seismo!ism780c!edge!doug