GNU Not Unix

When we talk about the "UNIX Programming environment" we mean a collection of compilers, tools and a good editor, which are available in a Unix environment. The development process is to edit the source code files using the editor. Then compile and link the program. Execute, debug and profile it using the appropriate tools and use awk, sed, grep, nm, strings, strip and friends for various other tasks. Lex and yacc make development of parsers very easy and efficient. The GNUproject has created such an environment in excellent quality. It is free software and can be used by everyone under the terms of the GNU Public License.

Using a Unix like environment obviously requires some Unix skills. This is what makes many people asking for Integrated Development Environments like Eclipse, kdevelop or MS Visual Studio. The IDE approach has the great advantage of a quick start for everybody, a quick development process in an object oriented context. The disadvantage always becomes evident, if "something goes wrong" and the programmer does not have an OS skills.

What I do, is using the Linux Version of Eclipse for largers projects, Emacs or vim - a good implmentation of vi with a few enhancements - for small ones. I believe, that using an IDE is no excuse for knowing nothing about the "Unix Programming Environment" and vice versa, because only both methodologies in combination are really efficient.

There is a bit of rivalty between the real hard men, who remember every tool, every compiler switch and write their documentation in plain TeX and the modern softies who call everybody a nerd, who is not interested in the "Ghost in the machine".

The minimum set of tools needed for developing C++ programs would be

• The GNU C or C++ Compiler bundled with The GNU Linker and the GNU Assembler
• The GNU Debugger
• DDD for graphical debugging
• An editor like GNU Emacs
• A version of make

For advanced developers

• The Gnu Profiler
• The GNU Lexical Analyser flex
• The GNU's own version of yacc (Yet Another Compiler Compiler).A parser generator called bison.
• Valgrind a general purpose tool for debugging profiling etc. Have a look at valgrind for memory debugging and detecting memory leaks etc. Very good!

Platforms

GNU Utils run on almost any system. I have used them on Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, Tru64, DEC Ultrix(DEC's BSD implementation is not anymore on the market, was a good system, though.), FreeBSD, NextStep (not on the market anymore as well), Cygwin on Windows

Literature

The Unix Programming Environment. The classic. Mainly for Unix enthusiasts and all people, who have good chances to become one. The book explains what a shell is, how to use it, goes into grep, sed, awk, explains the different input/output concepts, (stdout, stdin, redirection, pipes) and explains a bit about system calls. One can get more comprehensive books on the Unix Programming environment nowadays, but it is good to read this one.
GNU/Linux Application Programming covers GNU development tools like gcc, gprof, objdump, nm, gcov. A introduction to some system programming topics is given as well. Sockets, pipes, threads, are covered. The book then moves on to the testing and debugging process. Gdb is covered along with some useful tools from the Unix development environment awk, sed & friends.
GNU Emacs Manual. Written by the master himself, who invented it all. is more than just an editor. It can be used as one, but it combines lots of other application like emails frontends, www browsers, command line processor, calendar, ...
Managing Projects with GNU Make Make is used to control the compile process and many more.