Table of Contents

PART 1 - X in a Nutshell 1 A Brief Overview of the X System 2 The Benefits X Gives You PART 2 - How X Works, in Detail, and How the User Sees It 3 The Server - the Display Control Software 4 Communication between the Server and Clients 5 Clients - the Application Programs 6 'Look and Feel' Part 1 - Toolkits for Application Programs 7 The Standard X Toolkit - Intrinsics and Widgets 8 'Look and Feel' Part 2 - Window Managers 9 Using Many Applications Together - 'Inter-Client Communications' PART 3 - Using the System, System Administration, Performance, and Programming 10 Using the X System 11 System Administration 12 Customizing Applications 13 Performance Factors 14 Writing X Programs 15 Epilogue Index

About the Author

Niall Mansfield graduated from Trinity College Dublin, where he studied Physics, and computer modelling and simulation as a postgrad. He founded the European X window system User Group and has been Technical Director of a number of technology companies in Cambridge, England. He is now Director and editor at indpependent publisher UIT Cambridge.

Reviews

User interfaces come and go, but X remains the standard window system across a range of operating systems. Niall's book, "The Joy of X", still offers an excellent look into how X works and how to make it work better for you. (Keith Packard, X.org project)