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10 Best Linux, UNIX, and System Programming Books for Beginners in 2024

javinpaul
9 min readJan 18, 2021

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Hello guys, if you want to learn Linux, UNIX, or system programming and looking for the best books to read then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared the best Linux courses and today, I am going to share the best Linux books for beginners.

I have been sharing programming books in this blog for a long time, starting with ; I moved to other related technology, like , , , etc. Today, I am going to share some of the best UNIX and Linux programming books.

The list contains some of the must-read UNIX books from great writers like Sir Richard. Stevens, Sir Brain Kernighan, who has contributed so much to the development of the UNIX operating system.

Most of the books on this list are timeless, classic, and don’t age with time, much like UNIX, which is around for the last 40 years, and I am sure it will be around for the next 40 years, or maybe forever.

If you don’t know, I love books, both reading, and collecting. I have a strong passion for finding high-quality publications and already having 100s of titles on my bookshelf.

I am reading books since my childhood when I started reading pocketbooks, comics, magazines, storybooks, and then slowly moved on to Physics, Maths, Logic, and Computer Science books.

New technical inventions like Tablets, like the iPad, and Smartphones like the iPhone, have provided a further boost to my passion. Earlier, I think twice before buying a book, but now I can store hundreds of e-Books on my tablet and read them wherever I go. I mostly read books while traveling, and that’s why I am able to read lots of exciting books in the last couple of years.

Btw, in recent years, online courses have also helped me a lot to learn new technologies and consolidate my base on skills like Java, SQL, and Algorithms. If you also love learning from online courses then on Udemy is a great course to join along with reading any of the following books. In fact, you will learn better and quicker.

10 Best Linux and UNIX Books for Beginners

Here is my curated list of some of the best books to learn and Linux operating systems. These books will not only teach you the basics of Linux and UNIX but also the principles on which they are built.

These books contain tons of code examples for advanced programming in the UNIX environment as well.

This list contains book from different areas of UNIX and Linux like it includes books to explain the design philosophy of the UNIX environment, it includes books to teach you how to do network programming in , then some books to explain how things work in Linux and a book to tell you about essential Linux commands.

I have tried to make it one of the complete lists of UNIX and Linux books and relevant courses, but if you have any book which you think should be in this list, then just post them in the comments.

Unlike many UNIX books that are older, this is a relatively newer Linux book. This book is written by Michael Kerrisk, one of the maintainers of Linux man pages. Like many writers, he has been doing UNIX since 1987 and focused on Linux since the late 1990s.

If I have to recommend just one book, I will recommend this one even over “Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment” by Richard Stevens because it’s more thorough, more comprehensive, and just as well written as the Stevens book.

It’s now should be the standard book to learn UNIX/Linux system programming and if you want, you can also join course on Udemy to get the best of both worlds and learn Linux better and quicker.

As a programmer, I am curious, I want to know how things work under the hood, e.g. how HashMap works? This book tells you what happens under the hood of your Linux machine.

Most of the programmers invest their time learning Java, , and other programming languages, but they spent very little on operating systems like Linux, which is much more valuable, and the knowledge they gain will probably serve them more years.

This is an excellent book for any programmer who works in Linux, must-read, and if you need a course is also a course that complements this book by teaching you basic Linux commands.

If you ask me, Linux is all about commands; if you don’t know commands, you cannot survive in Linux, but if you know commands and you are creative with their usage, then you are king.

You can accomplish things that require a whole new programmer or tool in other operating systems, like Windows or Mac OS X. Every new programmer who is going to work in Linux should have a copy of this book.

It is both your reference and workbook for amazing and powerful Linux commands. If you prefer you can also combine this book with the on Udemy.

This is one of the best books to learn UNIX, a timeless classic written by Sir Richard W. Stevens. UNIX is one of the best software ever created; it’s been more than 30 years and still going strong, and this book will be relevant as long as UNIX will remain(forever).

The good part of the book is that there are thousands of code examples with clear explanations. It is also full of hundreds of illustrations and graphics that show how different UNIX concepts work.

In short, one of the must-read UNIX books for anyone who wants to learn UNIX and understand it better.

The 2nd Edition of Advanced UNIX Programming by Marc J. Rochkind is another more up-to-date book to learn UNIX/Linux system programming. This book provides the most comprehensive coverage of UNIX system calls and can be used as both reference and workbook.

Until “The Linux Programming Interface” came into the picture, most of the programmers either read Steven’s book or this one to understand the UNIX programming environment.

This is just exceptional in teaching UNIX. It covers a brief history of and other UNIX standards, like POSIX, SUS, etc. It also covers sockets, signals, threads, etc. This is slightly better than Steven’s book in terms of readability, but Steven’s book provides a more detailed reference.

best UNIX programming books

6. UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 4th Edition

This is another excellent book to learn Linux, but it’s a little bit different than others. It’s a true practical book. If you’re just starting with Unix and , then get this book to learn both concepts and commands.

The book is divided into several different administrator areas like necessary administration presents a broad overview of UNIX and from a system administrator’s perspective. Then you have network administration and so on.

7. Unix Network Programming, Volume 1: The Sockets Networking API

Sir W. Richard Stevens is not a new name in the UNIX world. The very first book on this list is authored by him, but he has written a couple of more books like this one, which is truly a gem.

It’s an in-depth book covering a lot of used in Linux and the internet, like IPv6, POSIX 1003.1–2001. This is a two-part book, where the first part focuses on socket programming.

Clearly, a must-read book if you want to understand true network programming. The 3rd edition of this book is the latest one, but even if you get the older versions, they are worth reading.

best UNIX books for Network engineers

8. UNIX Network Programming, Volume 2: Interprocess Communications

This is the second book by Stevens on UNIX Network programming. In this first part, he explained , and in this book, the focus is on “inter-process communications”.

The good thing is all of the Stevens books complement each other really well, and both of these books, along with Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment are a must-read for any serious UNIX programmers.

9. The Art of UNIX Programming

This is another excellent book to learn UNIX philosophy. I have a hard copy of this book on my bookshelf. There are lots of useful nuggets in there. The book will explain “why” more than “what” and “how.”

So, if you like to learn why certain things in are done this way and not the other way, this is the book you should read.

10. The Unix Programming Environment — Kernighan, Pike

The Unix Programming Environment by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike is one of the best books to. This book truly captures the Unix philosophy and teaches you the idioms.

It’s also an authority on the subject because it comes from the original Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center, and both authors are extraordinary technical writers.

11.

This book was first published in 1987, so it’s already 29 years old, but like UNIX, it’s still a great source of information for many software developers and engineers. UNIX is the best example of the simplistic design which has stood the test of time and even been used heavily in all mission-critical software.

This is a great book to learn the UNIX architecture and UNIX design philosophy and if you need a complementary course then I suggest you take a look at the on Pluralsight, one of my favorite online learning platform which has courses on all the latest technologies.

That’s all about the top 10 UNIX and Linux Programming books. This list is solely based upon my opinion, but they sure contained high-quality books that a geek would love to read. There is one thing I could add to my list of becoming a better programmer is to learn UNIX. It’s one of the best software ever built, and it teaches you a lot in terms of system programming, networking, inter-process communication, and operating system in general.


Other Recommended Books and Resources for Programmers

Thanks for reading this article, If you like Linux and UNIX books, then please share it with your friends and colleagues. If you have any suggestions, feedback, please leave a comment.

P. S. — If you prefer online courses over books then you can also check on Udemy. It is one of the best courses to join along with reading any of the following books. In fact, you will learn better and quicker.

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javinpaul
javinpaul

Written by javinpaul

I am Java programmer, blogger, working on Java, J2EE, UNIX, FIX Protocol. I share Java tips on and

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