Re: Anyone recommend a good Unix Scripting book?

Noons <wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au.nospam> writes:

> Following up on andi, 17 Apr 2003:
>
 

> But I'm curious. Obviously, "weight" is not a
> gauge.
> Yet, Tom's book is HUGE and extremelly useful,
> at least for me.
> And Steve's book is as thin as they come,
> but it's right up there with the Bible.
>
> So for you folks, what makes a book "good"?

this is a very difficult one because different people like different styles. I really like TK's book because, although it is large, each section/chapter is concise and gives you the meat you are after clearly and quickly with some good examples.

someone once told me never buy a computer book which has more than 3 colours on the cover, has more than 3 authors, has glossy paper and pictures or promises to impart all the knowledge you need in x days.

Personally, I like to make my choice by looking at the chapter headings, index and glossary. This tends to give you a bit of a feel. There are also some publishers which I trust and some which I don't. e.g. I will always give an O'Reilly book a go as my experience with them has been good on the whole. Other publishers I will not touch as they have yet to produce a book I've found of any use at all.

With reference to the OPs original question regarding unix scripting - I found "A Practical Guide to the Unix System" - very useful - it covers the main shells (Bourne, C and Korn) and all the common unix utilities. Looking at my bookshelf and you will spot the ones I found useful as the bindings are often stuffed and pages are falling out, their dog eared and generally worn.

Tim

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Tim Cross
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