Book Image

The Software Developer's Guide to Linux

By : David Cohen, Christian Sturm
5 (2)
Book Image

The Software Developer's Guide to Linux

5 (2)
By: David Cohen, Christian Sturm

Overview of this book

Developers are always looking to raise their game to the next level, yet most are completely lost when it comes to the Linux command line. This book is the bridge that will take you to the next level in your software development career. Most of the skills in the book can be immediately put to work to make you a more efficient developer. It’s written specifically for software engineers, not Linux system administrators, so each chapter will equip you with just enough theory to understand what you’re doing before diving into practical commands that you can use in your day-to-day work as a software developer. As you work through the book, you’ll quickly absorb the basics of how Linux works while you get comfortable moving around the command line. Once you’ve got the core skills, you’ll see how to apply them in different contexts that you’ll come across as a software developer: building and working with Docker images, automating boring build tasks with shell scripts, and troubleshooting issues in production environments. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to use Linux and the command line comfortably and apply your newfound skills in your day-to-day work to save time, troubleshoot issues, and be the command-line wizard that your team turns to.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
18
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19
Index

Advanced filesystem knowledge for the real world

You’ve gotten an introduction to the various Linux filetypes now, and have some experience working with the most common ones. Now let’s take a look at some less-common filesystem knowledge that will come in handy during your time working on Linux systems.

You’ll meet these when you’re:

  • Troubleshooting your first Docker application that has mounted storage volumes.
  • Working on an application that talks to industrial controllers, cameras, or other external hardware.
  • Writing application code that needs access to randomness for securely generating passwords or API tokens. One of the special file types you’ll see are block devices, which are devices resembling some form of disk, where data is fetched and read in blocks.

Classical disk devices are block devices, and you’ll usually find them attached to your filesystem at these locations:

  • /dev/hdX
  • ...