The Unix Programming Environment

[Omphalotus_japonicus]

The Unix Programming Environment
by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike

1984
978-0139376818

Published in 1984 by Prentice-Hall; still relevant today!

https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/upe/upe.html

[Omphalotus_japonicus]

I read this book recently out of historical curiosity, but, as its description implies, it very well holds up today! The book serves as a great introduction to both general usage of Unix systems and programming them. Of course, there are a few outdated details, such as a few commands which are not standard or have been entirely replaced by something else, but it generally still holds. This book was actually my introduction to the troff typesetting program (though I much prefer the groff textbook to learn more about that specifically).

I think my favorite part whilst reading were the intermittent exercises sewn throughout the chapters; it encourages the reader to try out things whilst they learn, which is always fun if executed well. (It's a shame so few books do this.)