Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!mit-eddie!bu-cs!att!cbnewsh!ho5cad!wjc From: wjc@ho5cad.ATT.COM (Bill Carpenter) Newsgroups: comp.text Subject: Re: Need troff macro book recommendations Message-ID: Date: 5 May 89 16:28:52 GMT References: <1109@wpg.UUCP> <13@nx32s.anduk.co.uk> Sender: nntp@cbnewsh.ATT.COM Distribution: comp Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 35 In-reply-to: lee@anduk.co.uk's message of 4 May 89 11:34:05 GMT In article <13@nx32s.anduk.co.uk> lee@anduk.co.uk (Liam R. Quin) writes: > In article <1109@wpg.UUCP> russ@wpg.UUCP (Russell Lawrence) writes: > >I've just started working with troff and would like to become more > >adept at writing/changing macros. Could someone recommend a few good > >books and articles? Thanks. > Dougherty, Dale & O'Reilly, Tim: UNIX Text Procesing > Hayden Books, Indianapolis, 1987 0-672-46291-5, 665pp > Probably the best of its kind. Well worth it! > Emerson, Sandra & Paulsell, Karen: troff Typesetting for Unix Systems > Prentice-Hall, 1987, 0-13-930959-4, 359pp > Not as good as Hougherty & O'Reilly's book, although it does give some info > about good old titroff. These are both excellent books, but for different audiences. If you are just getting started with UNIX in general as well as with n/troff, go with Dougherty and O'Reilly. You'll learn less about n/troff, but more about other things you'll need (other standard UNIX tools) to be really productive. For example, there's a brief chapter on how to use "vi". On the other hand, if you've already been around UNIX for a while and just want to learn lots about n/troff, get Emerson and Paulsell. I also have a whole shelf of n/troff books (including both of these) and consider this to be the best I've seen. However, it is pretty complete (and therefore possibly scary if it's your first book on the subject). Your best bet is to look at both in a bookstore. You'll be able to tell within a couple minutes which one is more your speed. -- -- Bill Carpenter att!ho5cad!wjc or attmail!bill