本書的組織方式

1.4 How this book is organized / 本書的組織方式

Like any good tutorial, this book starts with an explanation of simple concepts and builds on these fundamentals to progress to advanced topics.

如同所有優秀的入門文件一樣，這本書從簡單的概念開始，然後以這些簡單的概念為基礎，擴充到較複雜的主題上。

Part I of the book provides a history of the development of these tools and why they exist.

這本書的第一部份描述這些工具軟體的發展歷史，以及他們被發展出來的原因。

Part II contains most of the book's content, starting with an introduction to concepts such as `Makefile's and configuration triplets. Later chapters introduce each tool and how to manage projects of varying sizes using the tools in concert. Programs written in C and C++ can be non-portable if written carelessly. Chapters 14 and 15 offer guidelines for writing portable programs in C and C++, respectively.

本書的第二部份包含了大部分的內容，首先從介紹概念開始，如 `Makefile' 以及 configuration triplet 等等。接下來的章節會分別介紹如何使用 Autotools 的工具，以及如何利用這些工具管理不同規模的專案。最後，在 14 與 15 章中將會介紹使用 C/C++ 撰寫程式時需要注意的可攜性議題，撰寫 C/C++ 程式時若不特別注意的話，很容易會寫出無法移植的程式。

Part III provides information that you are unlikely to find in any other documentation, that is based on extensive experience with the tools. It embodies chapters that treat some advanced, yet essential, concepts such as the m4 macro processor and how to write portable Bourne shell scripts. Chapter 23 outlines how to migrate an existing package to the GNU Autotools framework and will be of interest to many developers. One of the most mystifying aspects of using the GNU Autotools for building packages in a cross-compilation environment. This is de-mystified in Chapter 25.

一些在其他文件中比較難找到的資訊被放在第三部份中，這些內容是以大量的實務經驗為基礎而撰寫的。首先，一些較進階並且重要的主題會在這部份討論，比如 m4 巨集處理器以及撰寫具可攜性的 Bourne shell 指令稿的注意事項。在第 23 章會提到如何將現有的專案移到 GNU Autotools 框架中，這部份會是很多發展者有興趣的地方。在第 25 章會解釋如何在 cross-compilation 環境中使用 GNU Autotools 來管理專案。