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Re: GNU compiler books?

> The O'Reilly book about GNU tools is now out; I spotted it at the
> Computer Literacy in Cupertino CA this morning.  It's for all the
> tools, not just GCC, and it does say something like "Using tools from
> Cygnus Support" at the top of the cover (since they used one of our
> releases to test the examples), so it may not be quite what you're
> looking for.

I already replied to Ken about the book but forgot to cc the list and we
both deleted the message. I'll try to remember the content.

I got my copy last week through amazon.com. Full details are:
"Programming with GNU software"
by Mike Loukides and Andy Oran
O'Reilly & Associates
1st Edition, January 1997
ISBN 1-56592-112-7
US$39.95
244 pages, and CDROM of tools from Cygnus.

Chapter 1 discusses the GNU concept, support issues and a general
introduction to the tools.
Chapter 2 takes a quick stroll through Unix, giving a new user enough
guidance to get logged on and perform the main functions needed to exist
in a Unix environment. This section is well written and covers a lot of
material while remaining within scope.
Chapter 3 covers Emacs to a similar extent. Once again, the object of
the book is to generate and compile code and the authors cover a lot of
material without drifting off to show how wonderful Unix or Emacs is.
The chapter includes launching gcc from within Emacs and how the two
coexist.
Chapters 4 through 9 each deal with the tools themselves. Compiling and
Linking with gcc, Libraries, Debugging C and C++ with gdb, make, RCS and
profiling each get a chapter.

The quality of writing is excellent throughout. The book is clearly
aimed at someone that is familiar with programming and knows what they
want to achieve, yet is new to Unix and the GNU tools. No attempt is
made to teach C or promote Unix virtues. 
Of particular interest is that embedded and cross development are
considered as 'normal' as native target compiling. Embedded issues are
mentioned throughout the book and covers things like the different
license problems and building the tools for other targets.

What struck me as odd was that there is no mention of DOS and only
passing reference to Linux. Given the level of the first few chapters,
it would seem most likely that the target reader will have come from a
DOS background and equally likely that the Unix they are faced with is
Linux. DOS also seems to me to be the environment where a book like this
would be the most useful as there are no virtual consoles to run info
pages in and Cygnus DOS ports are being distributed with embedded micro
evaluation boards.

Regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone that feels the
slightest bit uncomfortable with GNU tools. It will make the 
experience far more pleasant. Being 750 pages lighter than something
'unleashed' makes it easy to flick through to find a solution quickly.
It is no substitute for the full documentation but it is in the order of
execution and will get you comfortable enough to start looking for new
things to learn from the manuals.

Steve.

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