The UNIX Philosophy

• Deals with powerful concepts in a simple way * Highlights important characteristics of Operating systems and other abstract entities in a new way * Explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system philosophy Unlike so many books that focus on how to use UNIX, The UNIX Philosophy concentrates on answering the questions: Why use UNIX in the first place?’. Readers will discover the rationale and reasons for such concepts as file system organization, user interface and other system characteristics. In an informative, non-technical fashion, The UNIX Philosophy explores the general principles for applying the UNIX philosophy to software development. This book describes complex software design principles and addresses the importance of small programs, code and data portability, early prototyping, and open user interfaces. The UNIX Philosophy is a book to be read before tackling the highly technical texts on UNIX internals and programming. Written for both the computer layperson and the experienced programmer, this book explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system in detail, dealing with powerful concepts in a comprehensive, straightforward manner.

Author Biography

Mike Gancarz is an applications and programming consultant in Atlanta, Georgia. Using Linux, Unix, and Java tools, his team develops award-winning imaging solutions for the financial services industry. An expert in Unix application design, Mike has been an advocate of the Unix approach for more than twenty years. As a member of the team that gave birth to the X Window System, he pioneered usability concepts still found in modern window managers running on Linux today. While working at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Unix Engineering Group in Nashua, New Hampshire, Mike led the port of the Unix commands and utilities to the 64-bit Alpha processor. His first book, The Unix Philosophy (Digital Press, 1995), has sold over 15,000 copies worldwide.