[comp.unix.shell] Summary: Looking for a good text on sh programming

breck@ganzer.ecs.umass.edu (Liam Breck) (04/28/91)

Here is a summary of responses and opinions I received...

The Unix Programming Environment
by B.W. Kernighan and R. Pike
Prentice Hall, Inc., 1984
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

...covers more than sh programming.  Reported to be excellent.


Unix Shell Programming
by S.G. Kochan and P.H. Wood
Hayden Book Company, 1985
442 pages
ISBN: 0-8104-6309-1
cost: $25

...has a chapter each for the C Shell and Korn Shell.  This book may
be more suited for a beginner than an experienced Unix programmer.
Reported to be very readable.


The Unix System
by S. R. Bourne
Addison-Wesley 1983.

...from the man who wrote sh.


The Kornshell Command and Programming Language
by Bolsky and Korn
Prentice Hall 1989.


Unix Applications Programming, Mastering the Shell
by Ray Swartz
Sams, div. of Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1990
ISBN 0-672-22715-0
Library of Congress # 90-61476

editor's note: My experience with Sams books makes me want to avoid
them.  Poor writing, typos in bad places, poor consideration of topic.


Dis-recommended: "Unix Shell Programming" by Arthur.


For more info see:

Subject: YABL (Yet Another Book List)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,alt.books.technical

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-- 
Liam Breck     breck@umvlsi.ecs.umass.edu

pjh@mccc.edu (Pete Holsberg) (04/29/91)

In article <1991Apr27.174921.27741@risky.ecs.umass.edu> breck@ganzer.ecs.umass.edu (Liam Breck) writes:
=Unix Applications Programming, Mastering the Shell
=by Ray Swartz
=Sams, div. of Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1990
=ISBN 0-672-22715-0
=Library of Congress # 90-61476
=
=editor's note: My experience with Sams books makes me want to avoid
=them.  Poor writing, typos in bad places, poor consideration of topic.

Have you looked at their recent output?  They are now using relatively
knowledgeable technical reviewers (ahem, ahem ;-)) and the writing I've
seen lately has been excellent.  Now, if you were talking about TAB
Books, I would not have commented.

Pete
-- 
Prof. Peter J. Holsberg      Mercer County Community College
Voice: 609-586-4800          Engineering Technology, Computers and Math
UUCP:...!princeton!mccc!pjh  1200 Old Trenton Road, Trenton, NJ 08690
Internet: pjh@mccc.edu	     Trenton Computer Festival -- 4/20-21/91