"The first edition of this book has always been kept within arm's reach of my desk due to the wonderful explanations of all areas of the Linux userspace API. This second edition greatly overshadows the first one, and will replace it."
--Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux kernel programmer

Develop Software that Leverages the Full Power of Today's Linux

Linux Application Development, Second Edition, is the definitive reference for Linux programmers at all levels of experience, including C programmers moving from other operating systems. Building on their widely praised first edition, leading Linux programmers Michael Johnson and Erik Troan systematically present the key APIs and techniques you need to create robust, secure, efficient software or to port existing code to Linux.

This book has been fully updated for the Linux 2.6 kernel, GNU C library version 2.3, the latest POSIX standards, and the Single Unix Specification, Issue 6. Its deep coverage of Linux-specific extensions and features helps you take advantage of the full power of contemporary Linux. Along the way, the authors share insights, tips, and tricks for developers working with any recent Linux distribution, and virtually any version of Unix.

Topics include



Developing in Linux: understanding the operating system, licensing,
and documentation
The development environment: compilers, linker and loader, and unique
debugging tools
System programming: process models, file handling, signal processing, directory operations, and job control
Terminals, sockets, timers, virtual consoles, and the Linux console
Development libraries: string matching, terminal handling, command-line parsing, authentication, and more
Hundreds of downloadable code samples

New to this edition



The GNU C library (glibc), underlying standards, and test macros
Writing secure Linux programs, system daemons, and utilities
Significantly expanded coverage of memory debugging, including Valgrind and mpr
Greatly improved coverage of regular expressions
IPv6 networking coverage, including new system library interfaces for using IPv6 and IPv4 interchangeably
Coverage of strace, ltrace, real-time signals, poll and epoll system calls, popt library improvements, Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM), qdbm, and much more
Improved index and glossary, plus line-numbered code examples