Linux System and Network Programming

Linux System and Network Programming provides a comprehensive, up-to-date description of the Linux system call API (application programming interface), an API that is employed by a vast range of software written for Linux.

Examples of software that make use of this API include shells, office applications, editors, file managers, database management systems, messaging systems, virtual machines, and network servers.

The programs that use this API may be written in C/C++ or any of a range of other programming languages, including many widely used scripting languages with tight C bindings (e.g., Perl, Python, and Ruby).

This book is intended to be used both as a tutorial and as a complete reference for the Linux/UNIX system call API.

Readers new to the Linux/UNIX API can read the book in a linear fashion: topics are introduced incrementally and forward references are minimized. (In addition, an early chapter provides an introduction to Linux/UNIX concepts that may be unfamiliar to programmers arriving from non-UNIX operating systems.) Each new topic is introduced first in overview, and then described in detail, often with the use of diagrams.

The use of most system calls is demonstrated with complete, commented example programs (written in C), and the output produced when these programs are run is shown in the text.

For experienced programmers, LSNP provides a reference that is both deep and broad.

It describes not only the details of a specific UNIX implementation's system call API, but also compares that API against other UNIX implementations and the conformance requirements of the SUSv3/POSIX.1-2001standard. (LSNP also includes coverage of changes that occur in the upcoming SUSv4/POSIX.1-2008 standard.

However, the focus is on SUSv3/POSIX.1-20001, since that standard has been in existence for some years, and is the one to which most contemporary UNIX systems aim to conform.) This helps the reader to write portable applications that will run on all versions of UNIX, and also ensures that the book is useful for programmers working on other UNIX implementations.

Frequent cross referencing allows experienced system programmers to refer to topics in random order and quickly find detailed answers to precise questions.

Written to be the definitive guide to the Linux system call API, the book provides detailed coverage of the Linux 2.6 API (current at the time of writing), and clearly describes those areas where Linux 2.6 differs from Linux 2.4 (which remains in use at many sites).

It also details changes across recent versions (2.x) of the GNU C library (glibc), which is the C library that is most commonly used on Linux.