Overview

"Top Reasons people will buy this book: -Covers Linux on PPC -Top-down approach traces functionality from user space into the kernel -Lots of code commentary and examples. It walks you through the actual source code implementation. -Side by side comparison of x86 and PPC -Hands on Examples and Projects -Covers the kernel build system. The ""Linux Kernel Primer"" offers a comprehensive view of the underpinnings of the Linux kernel. This book starts with a guide of the necessary tools a developer needs to be able to understand and manipulate the source code including cryptic programming fundamentals found throughout the kernel code. It then follows up with an in depth analysis of the major subsystems including process management, memory management, scheduling, I/O, and filesystems. This book also provides information necessary to get started developing on the Linux kernel. The specifics of Intel and PowerPC architecture implementations are covered side by side providing perspective on architecture specific features and how Linux make use of them. Similar in approach to Kernighan's ""Practice of Programming"" 020161586X"

Full Product Details

9780131181632

Table of Contents

Reviews

Link: http://aplawrence.com/Books/kernel-primer.html Full Text: I've been less than happy with other kernel books I've read. Admittedly,it's a difficult subject: there's a lot to cover, and you really need quite a bit of programming and general Unix knowledge before you could even consider jumping into this area. But I have the background,have even written simple Unix drivers, and yet every other kernel programming book has disappointed me. It's all so overwhelming: there are conventions and quirks that have developed over time and surely are second nature to the people who have been doing Linux kernels for years, but these things are baffling to the newcomer. This book tries to get you past that. The authors specifically say that they have tried to cover the things that confused them when they first started looking at the kernel. I'm sure their efforts aren't perfect, but the effort does definitely show. The authors present several programming projects to help explore the kernel concepts, and every chapter has review questions to help firm up your understanding. The approach is from user space when possible: the assumption is that you are comfortable with application programming and that is used as the base to lead you down into the work done by the kernel for your programs. There's plenty of annotated source code here, both for x86 and PowerPC architectures. The inclusion of PowerPC information was an unexpected bonus; other books I've read have usually ignored that entirely or glossed it over quickly. Of course you need a background in C, and while this does try to cover general kernel subjects, it wouldn't hurt to have at least some prior reading there. A little familiarity with hardware and light assembly language will help also, although the authors do give some coverage there. I'm looking forward to spending more time exploring this book.

Author Information

Claudia Salzberg Rodriguez has been a Linux systems programmer for over 5 years and has worked with Linux on a wide variety of platforms ranging from embedded to High Performance systems on both Intel and PPC. She received a Bachelor of Science from Brown University in 1997 and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. She currently works in IBM's Linux Technology Center developing the kernel and associated programming tools. Gordon Fischer has been using Linux and other Unices since 1996. He has written device drivers for RF tuners, modulators and other low-level devices. He has used both the 2.2 and 2.4 Linux kernels in enterprise settings ranging from servers to embedded devices across both i386 and PPC chipsets. He believes all code should be written in either C or LISP. Steve Smolski has been in the semiconductor business for 26 years and has always been interested in the line between hardware and software. He has worked in manufacturing, test, and development of memory, processors, and ASICS. He has written applications and device drivers for Windows, AIX, Linux, and several embedded operating systems. His favorite jobs have been in robotics and multimedia. A(c) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available