Description

This book describes the internal algorithms and the structures that form the basis of the UNIX® operating system and their relationship to the programmer interface. The system description is based on UNIX System V Release 2 supported by AT&T, with some features from Release 3.

Features

• presents algorithms in a C-like pseudocode to aid readers in understanding the natural language description.

• uses figures to depict the relationships between various data structures s they system manipulates them.

• contains short C programs illustrating many system concepts as they manifest themselves to users.

Table of Contents

 1. General Review of the System.


 2. Introduction to the Kernel.


 3. The Buffer Cache.


 4. Internal Representation of Files.


 5. System Calls for the File System.


 6. The System Representation of Processes.


 7. Process Control.


 8. Process Scheduling and Time.


 9. Memory Management Policies.


10. Interprocess Communication.


11. Multiprocessor Systems.


12. Distributed UNIX System.

Back Cover

In this timely new book, Maurice J. Bach traces the popularity of the UNIX system throughout the computer industry. The author describes the internal algorithms and structures that form the basis of the operating system (the kernel) and their relationship to the programmer interface.

Among its key features, the book:

• Describes the outline of the kernel architecture
• Introduces the system buffer cache mechanism
• Includes data structures and algorithms used internally by the file system
• Covers the system calls that provide the user interface to the file system
• Defines the context of a process and investigates the internal kernel primitives that manipulate the process context
• Presents the system calls that control the process context
• Describes process scheduling
• Discussed memory management, including swapping and paging systems
• Outlines general driver interfaces, with specific discussion of disk drivers and terminal drivers
• Presents an overview of streams
• Introduces inter-process communication and networking, including System V messages, shared memory, and semaphores
• Explains tightly couples multiprocessor UNIX systems
• Investigates distributed UNIX systems