Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!grkermit!masscomp!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!edhall@rand-unix From: edhall%rand-unix@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.unix Subject: Re: kernighan & pike book Message-ID: <16035@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 26-Jan-84 18:09:00 EST Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.16035 Posted: Thu Jan 26 18:09:00 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 2-Feb-84 01:47:57 EST Lines: 49 I expected someone else to comment by now, but since no one has, I'll give you my two-cents' worth. I've skimmed through the entire book and studied the introductory chapter and bits and pieces scattered through it, so this isn't meant to be a definitive review--just a first impression. 1) The book is pretty `meaty'. It has some pretty sophisticated examples (a calculator language that grows into a mini-programming language is developed in later chapters), and the level of sophis- tication expected seems about on a par with The C Programming Language. Not for neophytes to computing. It has the effrontery to explain YACC in a few pages and them proceed to *use* it. 2) It presents a lot of information. The second chapter explains the Unix filesystem: it not only *mentions* inodes, it goes over in great detail what the various fields in the inode structure mean. In later chapters programs like AWK and SED are presented in fairly good detail (enough, I would guess, to be useful, which is more than I can say for the manual pages or most introductory texts). 3) K&P aren't afraid to call a misfeature a mistake, or to present a strong opinion, though they label it as such. I find this refreshing compared to the breathless praise some Unix books give. 4) This book is truest to the `Unix Philosophy' as I understand it. The concept of well-defined tools is presented and used repeatedly. `Small is beautiful' philosophy is there but subdued. 5) I found the examples refreshingly uncontrived (or humorously contrived). The attitude I get is `this is serious business, but not *that* serious'. 6) I would not hesitate to recommend this book to someone who was already fairly knowledgable about computer systems and who has good access to a Unix system (K&P reccommend reading the book beside your terminal and trying things for yourself as you encounter them). But I think it might be a waste of money to someone who does not have such experience. It assumes a bit more than the common introductory texts do. Not an easy read, but not a boring one, either. 'nuff said for now. I'm sure other people will have more (and likely better) comments as time goes on. -Ed Hall edhall@rand-unix (ARPA) decvax!randvax!edhall (UUCP)