ESR's Art of Unix Programming Updated

SRS Webby writes "Eric Raymond has updated his The Art of Unix Programming page with two new chapters - Chapter 3: Unix's Zoo of Languages and Chapter 4: A Developer-Friendly Operating System." This is actually fairly old, but its a nice slow friday. Personally I'm resolving this by re-reading every Penny Arcade.

Comments

Re:C++/Java?

[joss]

Yes, not only are students taught Java, but they hear a lot of Sun sponsored propoganda about how it's so much better than C++. This stuff is about as valid as MS's analysis of competing operating systems. You can't really argue against the assertion that C++ has lost a lot of mindshare to java over the last few years. Recently I've noticed that the backlash against this has become more pronounced, particuarly by those who have tried it in large projects and become disenchanted with it. These developers then become Java's mroe adamant critics.

Although I definitely prefer to code in C++ myself, I agree with decision to teach Java as a first language rather than C++, which has too many complications to make sense as a teaching language. If you're trying to get to grips with the basics of programming, you've got enough to worry about already.

However, if you *really* want to get to grips with the basics of programming, I really think its best to learn some simple assembly code. Nothing else can give you an adequate understanding of what goes on after the compiler has done it's job, even if you never use assembly commerically.

Couple of flat out errors

[DLPierson]

Eiffel: He describes this as one of the noble but failed attempts to oust C/C++ because they don't have automatic memory management. Garbage collection is one of the core features of Eiffel. Read Chapter 9 of Object-Oriented Software Construction by Myers to understand how absolutely vital he considers it.

Tcl: Has had a clean, well documented interface for adding new functionality in C longer than Python or Perl. It was one of the original features of the language. That's how Tk is implemented.

Offensive Site?!?!

[powerlord]

Sorry for the "OT" question, but what exactly does the www.tuxedo.org site do? It seems to be banned by the "Censor-ware" at the client I am at.

The response when I try to get:

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/taoup/chapte r3 .html

Is:
RESTRICTED - You have attempted to access a restricted site. This restriction is to prevent you from inadvertently bringing offensive/non-business related material into the workplace.
The proxy's access control configuration denies access to the requested object through this proxy.

Seeing as how I'm working with Unix systems I find the idea that this is either Offensive or Non-Business related rather amusing.

The only thing I can think of is that all of www.tuxedo.org is blocked, but I'm not sure why.
So what is it?

Evaluation of Java

[harmonica]

Some things I noticed in the Java section.

• Java has established itself as a language for server-side programming. Nobody cares about applets. Java applications (unfortunately) haven't arrived on the desktop yet. Maybe the 1.3 JRE for Mac OS X will lead to more applications written with Swing.
• The missing pre-processor is a good thing. #ifdefs lead to horrible code. Furthermore, you can use third-party preprocessors if you really need them.
• Java's a lot faster in the newer versions. I can't give a number comparing it to C / C++, but raw speed doesn't matter for many applications anyway. Swing also has become better but there still are some issues. Hardware-accelerated buffering etc. will hopefully solve these problems in 1.4.
• The biggest advantage of Java has been left out - its huge standard class library. You (as a programmer) will find a lot of good packages there. Moreover, Sun (and others) have defined a lot of additional non-core libraries for things like audio / video (JMF), email, 3D etc. Go to the Products and APIs section of java.sun.com for a list.

Other web comic suggestion...

[GoNINzo]

Another web comic with a lot of history and a lot of humor is Player vs Player which is VERY funny. Highly suggested you start from the begining and read them all!

Penny Aracade has changed a lot over the past 6 months, and I'm not sure if it's for the best. But the last three have been a return to old values so we'll see what happens. Plus, the entire controversy around their sudden unplugging might make them return to the old good stuff. `8r) Now, if the stupid ads built into their comic didn't freak out firewall constantly... `8r/

Oh, and cause I can: Wang!

--
Gonzo Granzeau

Not as good as I had hoped.

[IvyMike]

While The Art of Unix Programming is a fun to read, I think that it's actually pretty devoid of useful content. With a name starting with "The Art Of...", I was hoping for something more technically oriented. Knuth set the standard with his classic The Art of Computer Programming; perhaps a discussion of standard Unix APIs, services, etc is what I wanted. (But I guess Richard Stevens covered this already in Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment.)

Instead, we're getting a slightly gussied up advocacy piece, which really isn't much more than a retread of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, with a dash of superficial advice thrown in. As a UNIX programmer, I've found the existing chapters to be useless--I already believe in the UNIX way, and there's nothing concrete in there I don't already know. There are little hints of goodness, but so far, no topic has been covered simply enough to be useful to a novice, or in sufficient depth to be of value to an expert.

I guess I'm not in the intended audience--this really is a book for people relatively new to UNIX. But I wish Raymond had chosen a title which was more honest and less pretentious. I guess the "Who should read this book" is honest on what the book covers, but I was still disappointed. Perhaps the title "The Art of..." set my expectations too high.