What's "a good book about programming for Unix"?
What's a good book about programming for Unix? In Learning Perl, while showing the file test operators, we say:
Don't worry if you don't know what some of the other file tests mean--if you've never heard of them, you won't be needing them. But if you're curious, get a good book about programming for Unix.
But, we then leave the reader hanging without giving them an idea which book they might. I guess Chapter 4 of Stevens's Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment might be the answer, but is there something else?
I'm the author of Mastering Perl, and the co-author of Learning Perl (6th Edition), Intermediate Perl, Programming Perl (4th Edition) and Effective Perl Programming (2nd Edition).
I was going to suggest Advanced Linux Programming (although if it covers file test operators, I haven't reached it yet). Then I thought to look around a bit and found this question asked on StackOverflow.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/851980/linux-programming-book
I can strongly recommend Kochan and Wood's "Unix Shell Programming." It teaches one a good deal about Unix as well as shell, in this case bash.
Sobell's "A Practical Guide to the Unix System" is a classic, still relevant though that relevance is beginning to be historical.
Bruce Molay's "Understanding Unix/Linux Programming" is also excellent. He has a way of explaining complex subjects clearly.