Exploring Expect: A Tcl-based Toolkit for Automating Interactive Programs (Nutshell Handbooks)

Book Description

Expect is quickly becoming a part of every UNIX user's toolbox. It allows you to automate Telnet, FTP, passwd, rlogin, and hundreds of other applications that normally require human interaction. Using Expect to automate these applications will allow you to speed up tasks and, in many cases, solve new problems that you never would have even considered before. For example, you can use Expect to test interactive programs with no changes to their interfaces. Or wrap interactive programs with Motif-like front-ends to control applications by buttons, scrollbars, and other graphic elements with no recompilation of the original programs. You don't even need the source code! Expect works with remote applications, too. Use it to tie together Internet applications including Telnet, Archie, FTP, Gopher, and Mosaic. Don Libes is the creator of Expect as well as the author of this book. In Exploring Expect, he provides a comprehensive tutorial on all of Expect's features, allowing you to put it immediately to work on your problems. In a down-to-earth and humorous style, he provides numerous examples of challenging real-world applications and how they can be automated using Expect to save you time and money. Expect is the first of a new breed of programs based on Tcl, the Tool Command Language that is rocking the computer science community. This book provides an introduction to Tcl and describes how Expect applies Tcl's power to the new field of interaction automation. Whether your interest is in Expect or interaction automation or you simply want to learn about Tcl and see how it has been used in real software, you will find Exploring Expect a treasure trove of easy-to-understand and valuable information.

Customer Reviews:

best reference to Expect.......2007-02-11

Exploring Expect delivers as the essential reference for any programmer who uses Expect for automation. I have written literally thousands of lines of Expect for automating testing, switch maintenance and data creation. This book describes all the different aspects and utilities provided by Expect. One of the more esoteric parts of expect is the keyword exp_internal which causes the expect interpreter to print, in great detail, how it attempts to match patterns to output from any spawned command. Also, the tracing capability is excellent. You can literally see each line as it executes.

Overall, this book is an excellent description of the expect language and it contains many examples.

Exploring Expect (1994) good but badly needs updating.......2006-11-23

Expect is a language that allows users to simulate users for the purpose of automating certain tasks. What Expect does is open a virtual terminal for the process to be run, then looks for certain things in the ouptut from that program and reacts accordingly. Expect as a tool provides methods for automating the creation of expect scripts and more. Expect can be an excellent tool for regression testing from a command line.

When I first started learning Expect, this book was extremely helpful years ago. Back then, this book would have easily gotten five stars from me. Since then, it has become rather dated. It seems that Don Libes could do very well for the Expect community by publishing an updated PDF much in the same way as Subversion publishers have done. This allows O'Reilly to continue selling the hard-bound materials, yet provide us with more updated materials on the web. The hyperlinks included in the book are often broken (who woulda' thunk it after 12 years?).

Not only does the book need to be updated, but because the use of command-line environments has decreased so much over the past 12 years, the need for text-based testing has generally left us. Where the need lies now is in gui-based testing. That doesn't mean that Expect has lost its usefulness, though the amount of usefulness has dramatically decreased.

So, if you need to automate the use of a text-based application interactively, this book will help you with tools to do it. If you're trying to automate a GUI, this is not the resource for you.

Book hits:

o Written well enough with good examples (enough to get users started)
o Still useful reference if you need Expect
o Easy to understand for programmers / script writers.

Book misses:

o Desperately needs to be updated
o Hyperlinks no longer work
o Title misleads users in today's GUI-based world
o Does not address the needs of users automated GUI-based applications

Cool.......2005-12-18

Have you ever wondered how to create 12000 principle in kerberos from a list of username and passwords, maybe the data is stored in some mysql database? Yeah I had to do that and this book came to my aid.

I have found Expect a usefull companion in many arcane system administration task and this text by Don Libes (many of the examples exists as papers online) is an excellent 'cookbook' and a great starting point.

autoexpect is also a cool simulation tool. try it

Good Introduction.......2005-03-11

I came across Expect while I was trying to find a programming language to automate certain tasks in my experiments. After seeing how practical it was with automating command line sessions and I decided to get this book.

The book covers many topics relevant to developing Expect programs along with a good introduction to Tcl, which made it quicker for me to ease into writing Expect code. The book is self-contained and after reading a few chapters, I was able to automate FTP and SSH sessions with Expect programs. The book is very useful if you are a beginner Tcl/Expect programmer. However for some advanced topics, I found myself searching for answers on the man pages and the Internet.

In summary, I recommend this book for people, who need a good introduction to Expect but don't want to start from Unix man pages.

Nice reference to have.......2004-03-19

The good thing about this book is that it gives one a basic back ground of TCL before delving into Expect which, makes it an excellent "quick" reference book to have on the shelf. The only drawback I can really think of is that it is not extensive as it should be to make it an exhaustive reference guide.

Book Description

Over the last few years, Linux has grown both as an operating system and a tool for personal and business use. Simultaneously becoming more user friendly and more powerful as a back-end system, Linux has achieved new plateaus: the newer filesystems have solidified, new commands and tools have appeared and become standard, and the desktop--including new desktop environments--have proved to be viable, stable, and readily accessible to even those who don't consider themselves computer gurus.

Whether you're using Linux for personal software projects, for a small office or home office (often termed the SOHO environment), to provide services to a small group of colleagues, or to administer a site responsible for millions of email and web connections each day, you need quick access to information on a wide range of tools. This book covers all aspects of administering and making effective use of Linux systems. Among its topics are booting, package management, and revision control. But foremost in Linux in a Nutshell are the utilities and commands that make Linux one of the most powerful and flexible systems available.

Now in its fifth edition, Linux in a Nutshell brings users up-to-date with the current state of Linux. Considered by many to be the most complete and authoritative command reference for Linux available, the book covers all substantial user, programming, administration, and networking commands for the most common Linux distributions.

Comprehensive but concise, the fifth edition has been updated to cover new features of major Linux distributions. Configuration information for the rapidly growing commercial network services and community update services is one of the subjects covered for the first time.

But that's just the beginning. The book covers editors, shells, and LILO and GRUB boot options. There's also coverage of Apache, Samba, Postfix, sendmail, CVS, Subversion, Emacs, vi, sed, gawk, and much more. Everything that system administrators, developers, and power users need to know about Linux is referenced here, and they will turn to this book again and again.

Customer Reviews:

Essential Linux Reference.......2007-09-16

This book is a constant companion on my physical desktop....if you deal with Linux in anyway at all this book is a necessity.

A very big nutshell!.......2007-07-23

This book is as it promises, lots of information in a very (relatively) small space. The chapters are organized on topics that the newbie (read: me!) needs to know about and the explanations are thorough and well-written. While the old hand will understand the material covered easily and without much review, the newbie will have to read and re-read to get it all. Chapter 3 lists the most common LINUX commands and details arguments that go with them. The index and the fact that the commands lists are alphabetical make it very easy to look up a specific command or function and find out what you need to know to make it work on the spot. The chapters on Shells and on the VIM Editor are very informative and make two tough topics easy to understand. Reading through the VIM editor chapter as I did a lab practical made the process almost fun. For me, the best part was that I could understand the book, and my way experienced friend also finds it a useful reference for his more advanced work. So, I'll be able to use it while I grow into it as a LINUX user.

It's a Nutshell book. Duh........2007-07-15

If you've been in the tech field for any length of time you own at least one Nutshell book. If you like them, you own several; if you don't, you probably stopped at one.

good Linux desk encyclopedia.......2007-07-14

This is a good paper Linux reference for system administrators and (to some extent) software developers. If you are using Linux as a desktop system this is probably not the book for you, because you will do everything through a GUI and will never need anything in this book.

Despite initial appearances, this is not just a dump of all the Unix man pages. Each command entry is considerably condensed, with less-used options omitted and most of the more verbose option descriptions shrunk to one line. On the other hand it gives lengthier and more useful synopses than the man pages do. Some of the more complicated programs such as gawk and cvs have their own chapters with detailed introductions to the tools.

This is almost totally a reference, with no tutorial information and some scattered examples. The introductory sections on each tool are good. The book has a good functional index which helps find the relevant commands.

I have mixed feelings about the level of coverage in this book. It's perched in an awkward place between a really comprehensive reference (which would have to be multiple volumes) and an overview that alerts you to the capabilities and where to find the commands, without giving you the parameters and options. I think I would like it better if it had less detail, so I could quickly get an overview (without rummaging through 942 pages) and then delve into the man pages for the details. Think of the present book as a desktop encyclopedia: it gives you a good overview, and if you already know an area it can remind you of the parameters, but it's neither a tutorial nor a complete reference.

Excellent Reference Book.......2007-02-25

When you need to know what a Linux command does and all the options you can use with it, this book is the one to buy. I have two other books on how to install and use Linux. They teach you about the integrated software and some of the operating system commands for specific actions. This book details the commands and syntax in depth.

Learning the bash Shell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Average customer rating:

Mediocre material lacking truly useful examples
Good chapter on debugging.
Strong, gently-paced intro
Good introduction and reference resource
Essential linux skills.

Learning the bash Shell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))
Cameron Newham
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

MacOS | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Mac OS X | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Mac OS X UNIX | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

X Windows & Motif | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Macintosh | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596009658

Book Description

O'Reilly's bestselling book on Linux's bash shell is at it again. Now that Linux is an established player both as a server and on the desktop Learning the bash Shell has been updated and refreshed to account for all the latest changes. Indeed, this third edition serves as the most valuable guide yet to the bash shell. As any good programmer knows, the first thing users of the Linux operating system come face to face with is the shell the UNIX term for a user interface to the system. In other words, it's what lets you communicate with the computer via the keyboard and display. Mastering the bash shell might sound fairly simple but it isn't. In truth, there are many complexities that need careful explanation, which is just what Learning the bash Shell provides. If you are new to shell programming, the book provides an excellent introduction, covering everything from the most basic to the most advanced features. And if you've been writing shell scripts for years, it offers a great way to find out what the new shell offers. Learning the bash Shell is also full of practical examples of shell commands and programs that will make everyday use of Linux that much easier. With this book, programmers will learn:

How to install bash as your login shell
The basics of interactive shell use, including UNIX file and directory structures, standard I/O, and background jobs
Command line editing, history substitution, and key bindings
How to customize your shell environment without programming
The nuts and bolts of basic shell programming, flow control structures, command-line options and typed variables
Process handling, from job control to processes, coroutines and subshells
Debugging techniques, such as trace and verbose modes
Techniques for implementing system-wide shell customization and features related to system security

Customer Reviews:

Mediocre material lacking truly useful examples.......2007-06-07

This book has many drawbacks: its structure is deficient, the division of the material is sometimes outright confusing, the content lacks rigor and clarity, the examples are badly chosen and there is an overall lack of unity and consistence throughout the book.

Despite its many drawbacks, "Learning the Bash Shell" is still a useful book, simply because there are not that many alternatives. Moreover, the subject itself (i.e. the Bash shell, the Unix OS or both) is inconsistent and confusing.

Good chapter on debugging........2006-11-17

Good chapter on debugging. Good overview of the Bash shell, but I wish it had more examples. For a book with lots of examples, you might want to consider "Bash Shell: Essential Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith.

Strong, gently-paced intro.......2006-10-24

The bash shell is now the most common and featureful command shell in the Unix world. It's full capability certainly isn't obvious to a beginner facing a command prompt, but is well worth exploring. This book is a great place for the novice to start. The first chapter addresses the most fundamental question: just what is a command shell?

The ideal reader already knows at least the names of the emacs and vi editors. That much helps understand the many features and two distinct feature sets available for command line editing. I consider fancy command line editing over-rated for fluent typists, but it's there in the second chapter for all who want it and anyone can benefit from at least a little knowledge of it. After that successive chapters pull the reader deeper into the bash feature set: aliases and shell variables, scripting and shell programming, and debugging when the shell programs or functions go awry.

Since this book is aimed at the novice, Newham and Rosenblatt skip lightly over a few of the more advanced subjects. For example, exceptions and trap handling get only cursory treatment, since they get into deep weirdness very fast. The authors are honest about this shallow treatment, though, and give enough information for a novice to recognize the basics and look them up in more advanced references.

This is nicely organized for the self-taught student. As a result, it's not laid out as a programmer's reference manual - anyone who wants that kind of reference just isn't looking at the right book. For its intended reader, though, it's a great book. It gets readers off to a fast start, and lets them decide just how much they want to bite off at a time. I recommned it very highly.

//wiredweird

Good introduction and reference resource.......2005-10-02

This is a useful introduction to the Bash shell used in unix, linux, and other *nix type operating systems. It takes you from a very basic introduction into deeper concepts including shell scripting and customization. Highly recommended for the niche market it is intended to reach. I found it clear, useful and detailed without being dull.

Essential linux skills........2005-07-23

This book (2nd. ed.) shows how bash shell programming exploits special capabilities of linux and unix. Shell programming manages other, more specialized, programs. So understanding the shell is essential to fully exploiting multitasking environments like linux.

This book comfortably covers a complex topic. As software evolves, these skills apply to the TCL shell and the Z shell, too. I am eager to get started on the 3rd. edition of this book.

Average customer rating:

Another great O'Reilly book
Useful book to learn most important unix things, good chapters on awk & sed, but also has some redundant material
Incomplete and confusing
Unix partner to have around
Best Unix book I have

Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition
Arnold Robbins
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Solaris | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

X Windows & Motif | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596100299

Book Description

As an open operating system, Unix can be improved on by anyone and everyone: individuals, companies, universities, and more. As a result, the very nature of Unix has been altered over the years by numerous extensions formulated in an assortment of versions. Today, Unix encompasses everything from Sun's Solaris to Apple's Mac OS X and more varieties of Linux than you can easily name.

The latest edition of this bestselling reference brings Unix into the 21st century. It's been reworked to keep current with the broader state of Unix in today's world and highlight the strengths of this operating system in all its various flavors.

Detailing all Unix commands and options, the informative guide provides generous descriptions and examples that put those commands in context. Here are some of the new features you'll find in Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition:

Solaris 10, the latest version of the SVR4-based operating system, GNU/Linux, and Mac OS X
Bash shell (along with the 1988 and 1993 versions of ksh)
tsch shell (instead of the original Berkeley csh)
Package management programs, used for program installation on popular GNU/Linux systems, Solaris and Mac OS X
GNU Emacs Version 21
Introduction to source code management systems
Concurrent versions system
Subversion version control system
GDB debugger

As Unix has progressed, certain commands that were once critical have fallen into disuse. To that end, the book has also dropped material that is no longer relevant, keeping it taut and current.

If you're a Unix user or programmer, you'll recognize the value of this complete, up-to-date Unix reference. With chapter overviews, specific examples, and detailed command.

Customer Reviews:

Another great O'Reilly book.......2007-07-09

For those of you with the "animal" bookshelf, this is one of the better books to own. Lots of the stuff you need to know, but can never totally remember is here.

Useful book to learn most important unix things, good chapters on awk & sed, but also has some redundant material.......2007-05-17

This is a review of the 3th edition of Unix in a nutshell. The book has almost 600 pages, roughly divided as follows:
- 200 p. on unix commands: good stuff, to the point, summaries of all commands, with examples.
- 100 p. on shells, (bash, kch, csh: good stuff, summary of commands, examples.
- 5 p. on pattern matching: way too short! Here I miss a good and thorough section on regular expressions !
- 40 p. on various editors (emacs, vi, ex): useful if you use them, I prefer a GUI editor these days.
- 30 p. on awk & sed: good stuff, but this should be expanded. I learned at lot here, but I still want to know more.
- 100 p. on stuff I never use (troff, mm ms me macros (?) ... )
- 50 p. on the make utility and related stuff only programmers use.

Bottom line: the sections on unix commands, csh, awk and sed are really good. The rest is only who those who really need it. And if you have never heard of it, you probably are not in this group. So the 'good half' of this book is nice to have as reference on your desk.

Advice: buy this book used for a few euro's and you cannot go wrong.

Incomplete and confusing.......2007-03-23

Unix in a Nutshell is not for the faint-hearted. It tries to be a concise reference on Unix but ends up being incomplete (esp. with regard to Linux). A lot of commands are explained cursorily without complete options or examples. The presentation is often confusing; witness the chapters on shell programming. If you know nothing about Unix, don't even consider this book; it'll get you nowhere and more frustrate than ever. If you already know Unix you can find better and more accurate Unix references elsewhere.

Unix partner to have around.......2007-03-12

Great product and evyone needing to know Unix commands should have one around

Best Unix book I have.......2007-02-23

This book is really useful for a Unix dummy like me.

LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Average customer rating:

Great for a reference too
To Clarify:
Want to be a master linux admin....
Great LPI Linux Study Guide
Complete Guide to pass LPI

LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))
Steven Pritchard , Bruno Pessanha , Nicolai Langfeldt , James Stanger , and Jeff Dean
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Linux | Certification Central | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Certification Central | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596005288

Amazon.com

You may not have heard of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) or its professional certifications, but they're becoming an important part of proving professional competence in the Linux operating system. That aside, LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell is a fantastic introductory Linux book, well suited to introducing a curious newcomer to the environment and bringing an intermediate user up to expert status.

The book is organized around the LPI's published standards for two Level 1 exams (exams 101, which deals with key commands and file-system concepts, and 102, which places more emphasis on hardware, networking, and shell scripting). The organization works well even if you're not specifically preparing for either exam.

LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell assumes nothing in early chapters, going so far--to cite one example--as to walk readers through the concept of commands with parameters separately from the concept of commands alone. Later, the pace picks up, and strategic advice is substituted (such as how to partition a disk for maximum speed and reliability) for "type-this" instructions.

Throughout, the book makes effective use of O'Reilly's time-tested and remarkably clear format for presenting Unix commands and configuration files. Each chapter concludes with a series of exercises designed to help you discover behaviors on your own, and includes the practice questions you expect in a test-prep aid. --David Wall

Topics covered: The knowledge that's tested on the Linux Professional Institute's exams 101 and 102, which includes everything from basic Linux commands and concepts to installation of the operating system, essential network configuration, and kernel recompilation.

Book Description

LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for determining what you need to practice to pass the Linux Professional Institute exams. This book will help you determine when you're ready to take the exams, which are technically challenging and designed to reflect the skills that administrators need in real working environments.

As more corporations adopt Linux as the networking backbone for their IT systems, the demand for certified technicians will become even greater. Passing the LPI exams will broaden your career options because the LPIC is the most widely known and respected Linux certification program in the world. Linux Journal recognized the LPI as the best Training and Certification Program. The exams were developed by the Linux Professional Institute, an international, volunteer-driven organization with affiliates in a dozen countries.

The core LPI exams cover two levels. Level 1 tests a basic knowledge of Linux installation, configuration, and command-line skills. Level 2 goes into much more depth regarding system troubleshooting and network services such as email and the Web. The second edition of LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell is a thoroughly researched reference to these exams. The book is divided into four parts, one for each of the LPI exams. Each part features not only a summary of the core skills you need, but sample exercises and test questions, along with helpful hints to let you focus your energies.

Major topics include:

GNU and Unix commands
Linux installation and package management
Devices, filesystems, and kernel configuration
Text editing, processing, and printing
The X Window System
Networking fundamentals and troubleshooting
Security, including intrusion detection, SSH, Kerberos, and more
DNS, DHCP, file sharing, and other networking infrastructure
Email, FTP, and Web services

Praise for the first edition:
"Although O'Reilly's Nutshell series are intended as 'Desktop Reference' manuals, I have to recommend this one as a good all-round read; not only as a primer for LPI certification, but as an excellent introductory text on GNU/Linux. In all, this is a valuable addition to O'Reilly's already packed stable of Linux titles and I look forward to more from the author." --First Monday

Customer Reviews:

Great for a reference too.......2007-08-23

I found this book is invaluable to learn all the ins and outs of Linux and administration. There may be better books to teach you how to take the LPI test but this book will last you thru your system admin career.

To Clarify:.......2007-06-06

Folks,

The description from Amazon and the Editorial reviews are a cut/paste job, and they probably refer to the FIRST edition. I don't have much to say about the book (just received it), except I thought this might be useful:

As of June 2007, this book includes preparation for BOTH LPIC-1 AND LPIC-2 exams, i.e. exams 101, 102, 201, and 202.

So it's better than the description. I'm giving it 5 stars because you have to rate the book if you want the review published, and no O'Reilly product has ever disappointed me.

Enjoy :)

Want to be a master linux admin...........2007-04-28

....get this book fast!! I wish they had hid this book!! If there is anything that you want to learn about linux....this is it, period!!!

p

Great LPI Linux Study Guide.......2007-03-22

'LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell' by Steven Pritchard is a book for anyone looking to get LPI Linux certified. Written and laid out in traditional great O'Reilly fashion, this 950+ page book will not only help you pass this certification, but it will get you to pass with flying colors!!

If you need an overview of LPI Linux and want to ramp up quickly for your test, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book and with enough preparation and study thanks to this book you WILL pass, I have no doubt!

O'Reilly does it again!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Complete Guide to pass LPI.......2007-03-12

Revision 2 of LPI Linux in a Nutshell is a serious book to study for LPI Linux and is a good Linux reference guide.

Managing Projects with GNU Make (Nutshell Handbooks)

Average customer rating:

Does what it should do
Well organized, competent but uninspired and biased
Excellent resource for programmers
Nice book; available on the net for free
Good Overview

Managing Projects with GNU Make (Nutshell Handbooks)
Robert Mecklenburg
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Project Management | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

PMP Exam | Project Management | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596006101

Book Description

The utility simply known as make is one of the most enduring features of both Unix and other operating systems. First invented in the 1970s, make still turns up to this day as the central engine in most programming projects; it even builds the Linux kernel. In the third edition of the classic Managing Projects with GNU make, readers will learn why this utility continues to hold its top position in project build software, despite many younger competitors. The premise behind make is simple: after you change source files and want to rebuild your program or other output files, make checks timestamps to see what has changed and rebuilds just what you need, without wasting time rebuilding other files. But on top of this simple principle, make layers a rich collection of options that lets you manipulate multiple directories, build different versions of programs for different platforms, and customize your builds in other ways. This edition focuses on the GNU version of make, which has deservedly become the industry standard. GNU make contains powerful extensions that are explored in this book. It is also popular because it is free software and provides a version for almost every platform, including a version for Microsoft Windows as part of the free Cygwin project. Managing Projects with GNU make, 3rd Edition provides guidelines on meeting the needs of large, modern projects. Also added are a number of interesting advanced topics such as portability, parallelism, and use with Java. Robert Mecklenburg, author of the third edition, has used make for decades with a variety of platforms and languages. In this book he zealously lays forth how to get your builds to be as efficient as possible, reduce maintenance, avoid errors, and thoroughly understand what make is doing. Chapters on C++ and Java provide makefile entries optimized for projects in those languages. The author even includes a discussion of the makefile used to build the book.

Customer Reviews:

Does what it should do.......2007-07-02

I've used make and makefiles for many years. In my current product development there was suddenly a need for a little more than the standard make knowledge. For most Open Source tools there is a good O'reilly book, so I grabbed this one from the store.

This book exactly fitted to my need. It does what it should do, it explain make, and nothing more. Already after part 1 I got useful new bits of information. Nothing major, just small "ah-ha, that's how the do it"'s.

The book is structured ok (I felt it could be structured better, but have no suggestion how). It consists of basic and advanced parts. The basic part will cover rules, variables, functions and commands. The advanced will talk about large project, C++, Java, examples and some debugging.

All the basic concepts chapters were pretty good. Somehow I didn't enjoy the advanced chapters too much. I didn't feel I was learning much new things there. The Java chapter was a little odd. I've not met any Java developer who currently uses make, most have switched to ant quite some time ago (book was 2004, so might be changed in the fourth edition). The example makefile of the book was somehow not interesting. The second example makefile was the linux kernel. This was more interesting, but it didn't go into too much details.

All in all, I found it a good book. It gave me exactly what I needed. Somehow the writing style was a little dry. I couldn't really point my finger on what made it so.

I'll give it 3 stars. Not because it's not good, but exactly because it's a good book. However, it didn't give me something extra, which I always hope a book gives me.

Recommended when needing to know more about Make :)

Well organized, competent but uninspired and biased.......2007-06-25

Mr. Mecklernburg is definitely an expert in GNU Make and the book shows it. The information it contains is well organized and the author doesn't spend precious time on non-essentials.

The downsize of the book consists in the total lack of fun it produces. The reader has no joy while learning about make and he may quickly find himself yawning at pages and pages of explanations with little or no examples that smooth out the learning curve.

The book seems as if the author tried to show off his knowledge with the best eficiency per page and in the smallest number of pages. He succeeded, at least with me: I am convinced that Mr. Mecklenburg is an excellent engineer but a terrible teacher.

Besides the content not being enjoyable, it is so much biased towards *nix that the Windows programmer righfully asks himself "what about me"? The solution offered by Mr. Mecklenburg for Windows consists in the... Cygwin environment. I'll abstain from commenting on this suggested choice.

Despite its drawbacks, the programmer may find enough material to learn from it and get the job done. But make no mistake: this is not a feat and you'll need quite some determination to finish this book and extract something useful out of it.

Excellent resource for programmers.......2007-06-15

Make has been an icon in the GNU / Linux world for over thirty years now, and continues to be one of the most used utilities to ever be released on the platform. A good number of other projects have risen to take its place as an automated-build utility, but as of yet, none have been able to unseat Make. Some see Make as being too arcane and finicky to survive in the once it is confronted with an advanced, user-friendly, utility of the same purpose. However, as it stands now, Make is still the standard in the `industry', and Makefiles are distributed with almost every major software package on the GNU / Linux platforms (as well as some others!).

Any avid Linux or UNIX power user, as well as most system administrators, will need to have some knowledge of Make to do what they need. Programmers, on the other hand, need to have an intimate knowledge of Make, Makefiles, and what the abilities of Make are. This book is more for the latter group, and goes into detail that the former group probably doesn't need to know too much about. For the former group, I would suggest a more concise, simplified version of this book. For the programmers, this book is a must-have.

As I mentioned before, Make can be a little finicky at some points. This, some may say, is an understatement. There are a number of "gotcha's" in the language, as well as a lot of `hackish' features (when I say `hackish', think Perl `hackish'). Perhaps, more importantly, however, there are a lot of fairly advanced features that Make can handle, and few people seem to use these. This is where the book really shines - it goes over the rarely-seen, but perhaps some of the most advanced features, of the Make utility.

This might seem obvious to most, but the novel assumes that the reader has previous programming experience, and throws C++ code blocks at the reader on the third page of the first chapter. If you don't have any programming experience, you probably shouldn't be reading this book anyways - but I thought it worth mentioning.

The primary content of the book is split into two sections - basic topics, and then the more advanced topics. The author does an excellent job of starting out with the absolute basics, and slowly progressing into the more advanced topics at an easy-to-follow pace. I never felt like the pace was too fast, and the author does an excellent job of giving examples for each of the topics that require one. Each example is explained in detail, with an added bonus of a few "what-ifs" at some points.

In fact, this leads into one of my few complaints with the book. There is so much code, and so much text, and... well... nothing else. There are maybe a dozen and a half pages in the book that aren't just one big solid block of text. After a while, it becomes hard to take. It doesn't help that each page looks almost exactly the same, so after a while, things start to kind of bleed together. In the next edition, it would be nice to maybe see some page styling, new layouts, some more images / tables where possible, maybe some funny side anecdotes or something - *anything* to give the text some life.

Once you accept the pedantry of the text, you will find that it is extremely well written, and easy to understand. There were very few instances in which I had to re-read something multiple times to get an understanding of what was being communicated, and the author's ability to describe even complex topics in simple terms is really impressive at some points.

The advanced sections of the book delve into some topics that I didn't expect to see, and was honestly pleasantly surprised that they made their way into the text. Included in the list of `surprise topics' are alternatives to Make, benchmarking Make, parallel Make, distributed Make, third-party programs that work with Make to add new functionality, and even sections on Cygwin and Make.

Also in the advanced partition of the book were two other sections that I found to be extremely helpful, if not essential: Debugging Makefiles, and Example Makefiles. The Example Makefiles chapter includes both excellent Makefile examples as well as discussion of what is happening in them. The Debugging Makefiles chapter goes over a lot of the "gotcha's" in the language, how to find a problem, and then possible fixes for it. These were both nice touches to the book, and are examples of the dedication the author shows to covering the more difficult parts of the language.

For the purposes of an in-depth, complete tutorial in Make, this book succeeds wonderfully. The author, although a little pedantic in the design and layout, does an excellent job of communicating each lesson. I recommend this book to any professional or hobbies programmer looking to get a little extra control over the build process.

Nice book; available on the net for free.......2007-06-03

I've just begun reading the book and it's a nice book on GNU's make. As already mentioned, it is not a handbook but rather more like a discussion of how to best use make in your builds. That said, I'd like to point out that the text is available on the net for free. If you look at the associated O'Reilly web-page for this book, you can find the link entitled "Online Book" - click on that to see the index of the free, online book.

Good Overview.......2007-03-15

This book is a good place to start for learning how to manage large projects with GNU Make. It covers the basics and then moves on to specialized topics including writing portable makefiles, increasing makefile performance, and debugging makefiles. I've been using GNU Make for years and still found the book worth reading.

Unix in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference for SVR4 and Solaris 7 (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

nice first UNIX book
It nice book, very useful text.
THE core UNIX book to own
Without a doubt THE best Solaris reference guide.
Excellent reference

Unix in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference for SVR4 and Solaris 7 (3rd Edition)
Arnold Robbins
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Solaris | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Beginning & Introductory | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1565924274

Amazon.com

Unix in a Nutshell is the standard desktop reference, without question. (Manpages come in a close second.) With a clean layout and superior command tables available at a glance, O'Reilly's third edition of Nutshell is an essential to own.

Like a dictionary, Unix in a Nutshell helps you find what you need, even if you're not exactly sure what you're looking for (or how to spell it!). With that in mind, this book is for intermediate to advanced users only--those new to the Unix operating system would be better off with Learning the Unix Operating System or Unix: Visual Quickstart Guide.

The last full revision of the book was in 1992, and the new edition covers Solaris 7 as well as newer versions of shells (ksh, in particular), RCS, and GNU emacs. Topping off at over 500 pages, Unix in a Nutshell contains--literally--everything you could want to know about the various commands, shells, and functions. Fifty new commands have been added to the already sizable lists, and even the most seasoned user is likely to find a discover a new timesaving command. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Book Description

You may have seen Unix quick-reference guides, but you've never seen anything like UNIX in a Nutshell. Not a scaled-down quick reference of common commands, UNIX in a Nutshell is a complete reference containing all commands and options, along with generous descriptions and examples that put the commands in context. For all but the thorniest Unix problems, this one reference should be all the documentation you need. The third edition of UNIX in a Nutshell includes thorough coverage of System V Release 4. To that, author Arnold Robbins has added the latest information about:

Sixty new commands in The Alphabetical Summary of Commands
Solaris 7
Shell syntax (sh, csh, and the 1988 and 1993 versions of ksh)
Regular expression syntax
vi and ex commands, as well as newly updated Emacs information
sed and awk commands
troff and related commands and macros, with a new section on refer
make, RCS (version 5.7), and SCCS commands

In addition, there is a new Unix bibliography to guide the reader to further reading about the Unix environment. If you currently use Unix SVR4, or if you're a Solaris user, you'll want this book. UNIX in a Nutshell is the most comprehensive quick reference on the market, a must for any Unix user.

Customer Reviews:

nice first UNIX book.......2005-07-21

I like easy to read book and I also had assumed that learning UNIX is not necessarily has to be a struggle. This book stood up to my expectations almost perfectly: it is very well written and clearly expressed work. It does not overwhelm with technical details and does not press too much. I also followed an advise in someone review and purchased "UNIX Essentials" DVD that is complete unix course recorded. These two nicely complement one another. You watch it and you read it. If you didn't catch it from the first try you watch it again and read it again. In two months I found myself confident to that extend that gave advises to our system administrator and he accepted them because there were subjects that he wasn't completely sure. What I can say, in three month I passed my first interview and got a job! Sure it is a way to start there much of more advanced reading that will take over you with a time however these two provide you with the BASIS!
I can't overstate how much I have learned from them. Don't be naive, though. You will have to learn and memorize many things. The fact of owning neither book nor DVD will not make you knowledgeable, but if you will work it trough, there is a chance you will surprise many people around!

It nice book, very useful text........2005-05-02

It is nice book! It is well written and it covers many useful subjects. This book offers as much for a beginner as it is possible to convey from the printed page. I pared this book with "UNIX Essentials" DVD that I have found here on Amazon and what is a nice couple they made! I learned in first two weeks that much that consulted our system administrator on some subjects! While the book provides more of conception the DVD course contributed to my workflow, they even have sent diplomas to me!
Try this book and work it through, it is a sure way to get some grip on UNIX.

THE core UNIX book to own.......2005-03-24

If I could only have one UNIX reference book this one would be it. I literally use it all the time.

Without a doubt THE best Solaris reference guide........2003-08-22

Let me just start out by saying that I have taught Solaris in the past to several international companies and highly respectable universities. I always provide each student with a copy of this book because I put that much value into it.

There is no other Solaris book out there that covers the most often-used Solaris commands with such intricate detail and organization as this book does. The only drawback to this book is that the author stopped at Solaris 7. Considering that right now Solaris is up to version 9, I so very much wish that Mr. Robbins continued this book into Solaris 8 and 9.

The beautiful part about Solaris, however, is that even Solaris 8 and 9 contain most if not all of the commands that are listed in this book, so it still becomes an absolute necessity for any Solaris administrator. The complete chapter on vi also will be a welcome sight to many as well the separate chapters on the different operating system shells.

I must warn that this is NOT a book for those who are looking to get started in Solaris. This is purely a reference manual. In effect, this book is Solaris on-line help (man pages) in a beautifully organized compendium of the essential Solaris commands.

If you are a Solaris administrator, regardless of whether you're a novice or an "expert", you need to have this book at your desk at all times. It's completely indispenable.

Excellent reference.......2003-05-01

This is the first book to go to for unix syntax. It contains everything you need on Unix commands. It's the Unix Bible as far as I'm concerned.

MySQL in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Average customer rating:

It does not cover MySQL 5 or later.
MySQL and how to use it effectively!
Another Solid Nutshell Book
you need a background in SQL

MySQL in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))
Russell Dyer
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Perl | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Oracle & Database Programming | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596007892

Book Description

MySQL is the world's most popular open source database. MySQL is designed for speed, power, and flexibility in mission-critical, heavy-use environments and modest applications as well. It's also surprisingly rich in features. If you're a database administrator or programmer you probably love the myriad of things MySQL can do, but sometimes wish there wasn't such a myriad of things to remember. With MySQL in a Nutshell by your keyboard, you can drill down into the full depth of MySQL's capabilities quickly and easily. MySQL in a Nutshell is the indispensable desktop reference to all MySQL functions. Programming language APIs for PHP, Perl, and C are covered, as well as all the popular MySQL utilities. This invaluable resource clearly documents the details that experienced users need to take full advantage of this powerful database management system. Better yet, this wealth of information is packed into the concise, comprehensive, and extraordinarily easy-to-use format for which the in a Nutshell guides are renowned. In addition to providing a thorough reference to MySQL statements and functions, the administrative utilities, and the most popular APIs, MySQL in a Nutshell includes several tutorial chapters to help newcomers get started. Moreover, each chapter covering an API begins with a brief tutorial so that, regardless of your level of experience in any given area, you will be able to understand and master unfamiliar territory. MySQL in a Nutshell distills all the vital MySQL details you need on a daily basis into one convenient, well-organized book. It will save you hundreds of hours of tedious research or trial and error and put the facts you need to truly tap MySQL's capabilities at your fingertips.

Customer Reviews:

It does not cover MySQL 5 or later........2007-06-08

It's a great reference but dated. If I had known that it only covers through version 4, I would not have purchased it.

MySQL and how to use it effectively!.......2006-01-06

The book is "A Desktop Quick Reference" just as billed on the cover. It is explicitly MySQL-centric and doesn't stray from that core message. It is extremely up-to-date considering the rapidity of movement in MySQL development progress.

I feel that its author, Russell Dyer is the kind of person who is easy to talk to and immediately be comfortable with based on his style and presentation in this book.

The content of this book is very well organized in keeping with the finest traditions at O'Reilly & Associates. There is an installation guide, tutorial, SQL syntax reference, MySQL built-in functions section(s), command-line utilities reference and programming languages API references for PERL, PHP and C. These API references demonstrate commonplace MySQL usage through clear, easy-to-read examples that make good sense.

It is a very comprehensive text that reads as easily as a favorite novel yet is concise enough to be your first "go-to" on MySQL issues you may face day-in and day-out. It is truly the "most advanced kingfisher" (cover animal) on the topic and, like the Pied kingfisher, it is lightweight and demonstrates keenly honed survival skills.

I use MySQL daily and I find it very useful and enjoyable. I don't want to become an SQL guru or even a DBA, as a programmer, I enjoy having MySQL In A Nutshell close at hand so that I can focus on writing code. Thank you Mr. Dyer (and the folks at O'Reilly) for a job well-done! I heartily recommend it to everyone using MySQL. The convenience of this publication clearly outweighs its cost. Newcomers and RDBMS "old-timers" will appreciate this book equally.

Another Solid Nutshell Book.......2005-05-17

Ah, "Nutshell" books - you gotta love `em. Or maybe you don't. I won't get into the pros and cons of online documentation versus books because this subject has been rehashed ad infinitum. Truth is, there are pros and cons for both, and we each have our own reasons for our own preferences.
That being said, if you like book documentation - and "Nutshell" books in particular - then you will like this book. I happen to think it is a good idea to tear yourself away from the keyboard/screen every once in awhile, and the "Nutshell" books give you a good reason for doing so.
I'm not a SQL expert, so I liked the tutorial-flavored introductions at the beginning of each chapter, followed by the conversational tone of the clear and concise examples. I did not have this book when I first started programming using MySQL, and that's too bad because it could have saved me a lot of wasted time with its explanations of some of the more nefarious "gotchas" of the language.
I have but one criticism and one suggestion:
Criticism: The following APIs are covered at the end of the book: Perl, PHP, and C. I can see leaving out COBOL and Lisp (if there are even APIs for these languages), but Java? Granted, the Java interface to MySQL is well-documented in many places, but if you are discussing the *major* programming language APIs to MySQL then you should do just that.
Suggestion: The beginning of the book provides an introduction to MySQL via command-line instructions. I can see doing this, even though no one interacts with databases through the command line. What I think would be even more useful would be a brief discussion of the two tools that everyone does use: MySQL Administrator and MySQL Query Browser. A couple of chapters (along with some screen shots) of what they are, why we need them, where to get them, and how to use them would really make this book perfect. (If you don't forget that Java API chapter!)

you need a background in SQL.......2005-05-09

Well the book certainly seems to cover MySQL's features quite comprehensively. But, as it is a reference manual, it does not attempt to teach you MySQL or the theory of relational databases. For a given MySQL command, the book's explanation is succinct and useful. Provided you already have a background in the area. Much of the book's discussion is probably already available in equivalent form in the online help. But hardcopy is nice to have.

Going through the functions, what you might appreciate about MySQL is that many of these are generic SQL functions. If you come from any other SQL implementation, your background will be relevant to much of the book.

High Performance Linux Clusters with OSCAR, Rocks, OpenMosix, and MPI (Nutshell Handbooks)

Average customer rating:

OSCAR info badly out of date
Cheap open source

High Performance Linux Clusters with OSCAR, Rocks, OpenMosix, and MPI (Nutshell Handbooks)
Joseph Sloan
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Distributed Databases | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Linux | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596005709

Book Description

To the outside world, a "supercomputer" appears to be a single system. In fact, it's a cluster of computers that share a local area network and have the ability to work together on a single problem as a team. Many businesses used to consider supercomputing beyond the reach of their budgets, but new Linux applications have made high-performance clusters more affordable than ever. These days, the promise of low-cost supercomputing is one of the main reasons many businesses choose Linux over other operating systems. This new guide covers everything a newcomer to clustering will need to plan, build, and deploy a high-performance Linux cluster. The book focuses on clustering for high-performance computation, although much of its information also applies to clustering for high-availability (failover and disaster recovery). The book discusses the key tools you'll need to get started, including good practices to use while exploring the tools and growing a system. You'll learn about planning, hardware choices, bulk installation of Linux on multiple systems, and other basic considerations. Then, you'll learn about software options that can save you hours--or even weeks--of deployment time. Since a wide variety of options exist in each area of clustering software, the author discusses the pros and cons of the major free software projects and chooses those that are most likely to be helpful to new cluster administrators and programmers. A few of the projects introduced in the book include:

MPI, the most popular programming library for clusters. This book offers simple but realistic introductory examples along with some pointers for advanced use.
OSCAR and Rocks, two comprehensive installation and administrative systems
openMosix (a convenient tool for distributing jobs), Linux kernel extensions that migrate processes transparently for load balancing
PVFS, one of the parallel filesystems that make clustering I/O easier
C3, a set of commands for administering multiple systems

Ganglia, OpenPBS, and cloning tools (Kickstart, SIS and G4U) are also covered. The book looks at cluster installation packages (OSCAR & Rocks) and then considers the core packages individually for greater depth or for folks wishing to do a custom installation. Guidelines for debugging, profiling, performance tuning, and managing jobs from multiple users round out this immensely useful book.

Customer Reviews:

OSCAR info badly out of date.......2005-09-20

I recently installed an OSCAR cluster on our PowerEdge SC1425 servers; Since the book just came out this year, I thought it would provide some more up to date insights into items that are not included in the install manual.

No such luck, you will find no mention of the need to upgrade SIS if you have SCSI or S-ATA drives, there is no information on Peter Mueller's kernel, or why you may need it. Or why the whole process seems to work but the nodes never can boot (OSCAR sometimes makes a bad initrd.img - check the size).

This book is NOT a good OSCAR resource, if you're a newbie it just leave you feeling frustrated as to why it sounds so simple and just doesn't work.

Cheap open source.......2004-12-09

The free open source nature of Linux has driven its growth in general purpose client and server side usages. Here, Sloan takes linux into the rarefied context of high performance computing. Atop linux, he explains the merits of open source packages like Oscar and Rocks, to run your cluster. The basic motivation for him describing all this is the relatively low cost of using the machines. This can be a significant issue if your budget is limited or if you plan to have many machines in the cluster.

The book is primarily about software. Though he also gives a chapter discussing mundane but important decisions regarding hardware. The software that is explained is mostly Oscar and Rocks, as explained above, and how these are to be run. Be aware that relatively little of the book is about linux, per se. Which is as it should be. The crucial starting assumption is that you are or will be using linux. But, roughly, linux on these machines is more or less the same as linux on a generic computer. The distinguishing feature is the next layer of software.

On the programming side, Sloan points out that C and Fortran dominate, with C++ usage rising. There is no significant effort in Java, because of its performance penalty. Maybe on the cluster's lead computer that interfaces with the rest of the world, you can have a nice Java GUI program that controls the cluster. But the heavy lifting is done in the other languages.

Average customer rating:

Good reference for Tcl/Tk 8.0, but now outdated
Disorganized, incomplete, and unfriendly
Good reference, not so good for beginners
Good reference, but don't expect anything else.
it's a nutshell book ... stuff you can get online

Tcl/Tk in A Nutshell
Paul Raines , and Jeff Tranter
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Nutshell | Series | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Unix & Linux | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Scripting Languages | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

General | Programming | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books

Network Administration | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1565924339

Book Description

The Tcl language and Tk graphical toolkit are simple and powerful building blocks for custom applications. The Tcl/Tk combination is increasingly popular because it lets you produce sophisticated graphical interfaces with a few easy commands, develop and change scripts quickly, and conveniently tie together existing utilities or programming libraries. One of the attractive features of Tcl/Tk is the wide variety of commands, many offering a wealth of options. Most of the things you'd like to do have been anticipated by the language's creator, John Ousterhout, or one of the developers of Tcl/Tk's many powerful extensions. Thus, you'll find that a command or option probably exists to provide just what you need. And that's why it's valuable to have a quick reference that briefly describes every command and option in the core Tcl/Tk distribution as well as the most popular extensions. Keep this book on your desk as you write scripts, and you'll be able to find almost instantly the particular option you need. Most chapters consist of alphabetical listings. Since Tk and mega-widget packages break down commands by widget, the chapters on these topics are organized by widget along with a section of core commands where appropriate. Contents include:

Core Tcl and Tk commands and Tk widgets
C interface (prototypes)
Expect
[incr Tcl] and [incr Tk]
Tix
TclX
BLT
Oratcl, SybTcl, and Tclodbc

Customer Reviews:

Good reference for Tcl/Tk 8.0, but now outdated.......2005-09-08

This book really needs to be updated for the latest version of Tcl/Tk, as there have been a number of important additions since it was published in 1999. For example, all the new string commands and regular expression enhancements added in 8.1, the new file operations added in 8.3, and the new list commands added in 8.4, not to mention all the new Tk widgets (e.g. spinbox, panedwindow). To learn about all the new features, I'd recommend that you get the latest version of Brent Welch's "Practical Programming in Tcl and Tk" instead. The documentation that comes with Tcl/Tk is the ultimate authority, and is basically what this Nutshell book consists of, albeit for the old 8.0 version. It's basically just a copy of the old manual pages.

I think this book is just too old to be useful anymore, especailly since if you have Tcl/Tk installed then you already have all the current documentation. And there are virtually no examples given. The Chapter on The Tcl C Interface is basically the contents of the tcl.h header file. One reason I give it 2 stars instead of just 1 is that it does have some chapters on some popular Tcl/Tk extensions, like Expect, Tclx, Tix and Blt, even though they're pretty much just the manual pages for those extensions.

Disorganized, incomplete, and unfriendly.......2004-06-29

The book has lots of information but one has to go through lots to loops to get to where the information should be and then it may not be there.

E.g., the index has no mention of the 'wm' command--one that I often encounter.

E.g., another book implies that there is a canvas command 'delete all'. After I finally got to page 61, I found the 'delete' command but NOT any hint that one can use the 'all' command to delete all the objects on the canvas.

Another example, even though the book purports to cover TK--the visual side of the language--I find just one chart, .

Needless to say, there are very few examples.

Good reference, not so good for beginners.......2004-06-17

If you need some hand-holding and are just getting started with TCL then this book is not for you. Tcl/TK in a nutshell is exactly what the title says, a desktop quick reference.
Don't expect many examples or explanations.

Compared to Perl / C style languages TCL is a little weird to look at and takes some getting used to. And it's easy to get tripped up if you aren't already experienced with the language. A lot of the material in the book doesn't go any deeper than the TCL man pages. So beginners, get a different book / tutorial to learn the language.

If you are proficient in TCL than this book would make a great reference, but as a beginner (to TCL, not to programming) a lot of times I had to supplement what the book gave by searching the web for examples to making things clearer. But it is definitely useful for looking up rarely used / obscure commands that you may have forgotten.

Even though the book lacks a lot of examples and hand holding it is very comprehensive and covers a lot of material.

Good reference, but don't expect anything else........2004-03-16

As a reference goes, this is pretty good. I've noticed a certain hit or miss aspect of the O'Reilly Nutshell series. This one is more of a hit for me personally. Still, I'm already bumping into things I wish this book covered. stooop, for one thing. There isn't much here that you won't find in the online documentation, but it can be very nice to have a paper copy.

Basically, this book was what I was expecting it to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

it's a nutshell book ... stuff you can get online.......2003-12-23

this is the tcl book i keep handiest, even though it doesn't offer me much of anything beyond the manual pages. what it does offer is a compendium of tcl, tk, expect, tix, blt, itcl, itk, tclx, and the like's references.

i've always been disappointed in tcl's online documentation. you can easily reproduce the lion's share of this book by just printing out the manual pages. however, having them bound and handy can be a relief. it does include some sample code (which you can typically find online), adding some value.

it's a nutshell book, though, and nutshell books are typically like this. o'reilly's had this series for years and they've always been of questionable value for some people (myself included). you wont learn a language this way, you wont even improve your programming this way, you'll just have a handy printed reference manual. i haven't yet found it to be incorrect (but i didn't go looking), so that's got to say something.

don't pay full price for this one.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books