The UNIX Programming Environment

Not all of the ones below may be textbooks, sorry, but IMO they are all very good. I cut my programming teeth on some of them, and read others at different times later in my career. How to Solve It, by Georg Polya. A famous Hungarian mathematician. A text on general problem solving principles or techniques. A classic. How to Solve It by Computer, by Dromey, an AU CS professor. In the same spirit as the Polya book, but applied to iteratively working out algorithms and pseudocode for common important programming problems. The K&R C book. What to say. The Unix Programming Environment, by Kernighan and Pike. Ditto. Programming Pearls, and More Programming Pearls, by Jon Bentley. Among many other things, some clever / advanced uses of awk. Writing Efficient Programs, also by Bentley. I had mentioned it on HN earlier, and someone replied saying they had used it in real life, and it was gold. SQL for Professionals, by authors whose names I forget. The Object Primer, by can't remember who, but good. A Unix book by Kochan, IIRC. Object-Oriented Software Construction, by Bertrand Meyer, creator of the Eiffel programming language.…

What initially turned me into a curious person were Surely You Are Joking Mr Feynman & Godel, Escher, Bach. Then Book of Proof & Forallx: an introduction to formal logic helped me develop an interest in mathematics. But what was really a kind of aesthetic crack was The UNIX Programming Environment and The TeXbook.

"The unix programming environment" I read this in like a week at one of my first jobs. I learned so much that in a few days my status in the team radically changed and became the go to person when people's scripts didn't work; word spread and soon I had people from other teams seeking help with their scripts too. No one else read the book though AFIK ... What I really liked about this book at the time: - it explains the few key concepts extremelly well - the exercises were truly outstanding, really testing your understanding of subtleties of above concepts One for the ages.

I like (1) The unix programming environment It's very old and underrated. Many people have problems getting started with the command line and basic UNIX tools. This is _THE_ place to learn about this.

My take on some which I think should be atleast read once: 1) The unix programming environment 2) The design of the unix operating system 3) The Pragmatic Programmer 4) Programming Pearls 5) Computer Systems: A Programmers Prespective 6) K & R C 7) The art of Unix Programming. PS: I admit my bias towards systems.

+1. I have a corner of a bookshelf reserved for everything Kernighan, e.g. both Software Tools editions, both C Language editions, The Unix Programming Environment, The Practice of Programming, The AWK Language, even a copy of The Elements of Programming Style. I, and my employers and clients, may owe more to Mr. Kernighan for his teaching and programming style, than anyone else.

From a recent HN comment, a list, some authors, and some guidelines, largely based on books which radically changed my thinking. Currently: Vaclav Smil, Energy in World History (1994), and Manfred Weissenbacher, Sources of Power (2009). Both detail the role and impact of energy through world history. The latter draws strongly on the first, both are exceedingly well documented. TL;DR: coal changed much, oil changed everything. http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/3... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/30398523&referer=brief_results) http://www.worldcat.org/title/before-oil-the-ages-of-foragin... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/before-oil-the-ages-of-foraging-agriculture-and-coal/oclc/837625798&referer=brief_results) http://www.worldcat.org/title/oil-age-and-beyond/oclc/837625... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/oil-age-and-beyond/oclc/837625970&referer=brief_results) James Burke's books Connections and The Day the Universe Changed, and their accompanying television series, were a profound introduction to the history of technology, science, ideas, and philosophy. Though 30+ years old, they remain highly current and relevant.…

They are technical. Brushing up on: K&R - The C Programming Language K&P - The Unix Programming Environment K&P - The Practice of Programming Kerrisk - The Linux Programming Interface (Not light reading) Even though it is mostly review, reading code and seeing commands that K&R&P run has actually helped my workflow, code quality, etc. Highly recommend re-reading if it has been a while. Even things like variable names have noticeably improved since beginning re-reading. And, the Linux Programming Interface....is huge. There's always more to learn in there.

Can't really single out one book as the best I've read. But many come close: - Code Complete - 1st Edition. I have both Editions 1 and 2. Edition 1 is very good and has a lot of stuff worth reading and practicing. Kernighan and Pike's The Unix Programming Environment. Kernighan and Ritchie's The C Programming Language. Would have to think of other good ones, though there are sure to be some.