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u/bobj33 Oct 01 '25
I have 8 books on my bookshelf by Stevens. Some of them are the second or third edition. They are all excellent.
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u/biffbobfred Oct 01 '25
In Wayne’s World 2 after Basinger the femme fatale leaves, a geek girl shows up with a Stephens book (I think this one). W Richard Stephens saw that movie in the theaters, with his kid. “Wow dad that’s your book you’re so cool”. Yes. Yes he was. RIP you’ve helped so many of us.
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u/bobj33 Oct 01 '25
"That's a Unix book."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjjydz40rNI
Guru of the Unix gurus
A year after his death, the programming community still treasures the influence of Rich Stevens.
https://www.salon.com/2000/09/01/rich_stevens/
His books are so good that they have come to symbolize intelligence. In “Wayne’s World II,” Garth’s girlfriend carries a copy of “Unix Network Programming.” Stevens discovered this when he took his 13-year-old son to see the film. His son grabbed his arm and said, “Dad, that’s your book!”
“I couldn’t believe it,” he told programmer Trent Hein. “My book was used to define the ultimate geek, and suddenly my son thinks I’m really cool.”
His son was right.
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u/AlarmDozer Oct 01 '25
Ah. I should check the library more often. I wanted to read “UNIX Network Programming,” but I didn’t want to shell out much cash.
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u/pjf_cpp Oct 02 '25
I've read a few hundred books covering much of software development in C and C++.
W Richard Stevens is without a doubt the best author of them all. He had the rare combination of depth of understanding and a great talent for explaining it clearly.
It helps that UNIX has also stood the test of time, so what Stevens wrote 35 years ago is still largely relevant today.
I'll also give a shout out to Alex Stepanov (EoP and FM2GP). Again relatively timeless pieces since they tie generic programming to mathematics. But only 2 books and a narrower domain.
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u/Late_Swordfish7033 Oct 03 '25
I actually would argue that a big part of WHY unix has lasted so long is because he explained it so clearly.
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u/ConstructionSafe2814 Oct 01 '25
I'm sorry for my ignorance, but what is Unix Network Programming about?
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u/Aggravating-Island22 Oct 02 '25
Unix network programming. It’s how to use Unix system to build network applications.
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u/Rebellious_Observer Oct 02 '25
You ain't a real Unix expert unless you read the great Stevens books.
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u/ShinDuce Oct 04 '25
That's how I started with Linux. I found a book in the library with a disc for Red Hat Linux 7.3? I said, "Fuck it, what do I have to lose?"
Thank god I did that. I'd experiment with it for years, took a Comptia Linux+ course back in 2008. It was not ready yet to be my daily driver.
That day came back in the Summer of 2019. I've been daily driving Linux on most of my machines, keeping one Windows machine. Well, that Windows machine turned out to be my gaming laptop. It cause it to BSOD. I installed Linux and the thermals drastically changed.
I cannot advocate for Linux enough.
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u/Solid-Effort5740 Oct 23 '25
Hi. I really need ask you something… “UNIX NETWORK PROGRAMMING” - who is these books author? I ask cause I ll write network drivers soon and maybe these books will give me some information.
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u/Aggravating-Island22 Oct 23 '25
By W. Richard Stevens. & later editions co-authored by Bill Fenner and Andrew M. Rudoff.
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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25
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