UNIX Systems Programming: Communication, Concurrency, and Threads by Kay A. Robbins and Steven Robbins

Prentice Hall, 2003

ISBN: 0-13-042411-0

$69.99 US

UNIX Systems Programming: Communication, Concurrency, and Threads is the successor to the 1995 Practical UNIX Programming: A Guide to Communication, Concurrency, and Multithreading. This updated second edition includes all-new chapters covering the Web and multicast, plus a completely revised and updated remote procedure call (RPC) chapter. Material on files, signals, semaphores, threads and client-server communication also has been updated and enhanced.

The book provides programming exercises for many fundamental concepts in process management, concurrency and communication. These programming exercises are similar to the exercises you would be doing as part of an operating systems course. Exercises are specified for systematic development, and many can be implemented in under 100 lines of code.

Another important feature of the book is compliance with the POSIX standards, the single UNIX specification adopted since the publication of the first edition.

The book provides everything you need to program with threads, TCP/IP and RPC. The authors explain the essentials of UNIX programming, concentrating on communication, concurrency and multithreading techniques, and why, when and how to use them in a tutorial manner. They provide a lot of reusable source code examples, all complete and ready to be compiled and run.

Another nice feature of the book is that it shows how to design complex software to get the best performance from a POSIX system. Many short examples are featured throughout the book, as are a number of hands-on projects that help readers expand their skill levels. The authors take a practical approach and use short code snippets to illustrate how to use system calls.

I highly recommend adding this book to your UNIX library if you want to learn UNIX system programming essentials with a concentration on communication, concurrency and multithreading techniques. It is the book that will keep you wondering how you were working without it.