UNIX to Linux

Port Your UNIX® Applications to Linux®–Quickly, Efficiently, and Reliably

Increasingly, developers, architects, and project managers face the challenge of porting their C, C++, and Java applications from UNIX® to Linux® environments. Now, there’s a definitive, start-to-finish guide to porting applications from today’s most widely used UNIX platforms: Solaris™, HP-UX, and AIX®.

Three of IBM’s most-experienced Linux porting specialists lead you through your entire project: scoping, analysis, recoding, and testing. They present a start-to-finish porting methodology, realistic discussions of key porting tasks, and a questionnaire for assessing the work involved in any new project. You’ll discover what Linux offers in terms of APIs, library functions, versioning, system features, and tools–and the implications for your project. Next, the authors address each individual UNIX® platform in detail, identifying specific porting challenges and best-practice solutions. Coverage includes

·        Understanding the Linux environment: GNU binutils, Java environments, shells, packaging options, and more

·        Uncovering and addressing project unknowns, variables, and other risks

·        Handling specific platform differences: standards, compilers, linkers, versioning, system/library calls, threads, and more

·        Testing and debugging ported applications using the GNU debugger and Linux memory leak and performance tracing tools

·        Contains quick references to UNIX^® and Linux APIs, compilers, and linker options, and a discussion of porting issues unique to IBM’s POWER^™ architecture

Whether you need a start-to-finish guide or a concise reference, you’ll find this book an indispensable resource for all your UNIX®-to-Linux porting projects.